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The  best  games,  applications,  and  utilities  ever  publislned  for 
Commodore  l^ome  computers  by  COMPUTE!  and  CGMPUTEI's  Gazette. 


PUTE!& 


$14.95 
1988        €£ 

S20  95  Canada        02707 
Oispiav  oniii  Jon  27,  1988 


jisk  nsice 


For  Commodore  64  &  128 


StiQlegy  "^arneb  - 


Bootmak 


Script 


Eaglei 
all  •  Pris( 


heck< 


^.J»  Fast  hll     l^^--0   .. 


ivieiabAbiU 


Appi 


^^^^^X!^^w^ 


u  * 


;a    V 


Of  Our  Best 
Programs  Ever 

INSIDE 
.     ON  DISKI 


-We 


'0s  •  Tua 


•   iuroo 


tionKi^  '^  Speed 

orter  •  Fc 
/■iew  •  Strateqy  Games 


0  "7U86"02707' 


Off  •  Heat  Seeker  •  Kicker  •  Loo. 
Quickchange  •  Saloon  ShootOLJ 


-  r'\/~^i'~: 


^i  A\ssernbiet 
jrictions  • ' 
np  •  Fontier  •  Hi-Res  Screen  D 


oBASlc. 
Turbo  Boot 


L,u  /  .i-^i  :u  • 


iBASIC  128»^'etoi 


^nr^Mc^tions  ♦ 


WHEN  YOU'VE  SOLD 
YOU  MUST  BE  DOING 

No  Brag,  Just  Fact!  Over  1,800,000  programs  sold  to  date— and  each 
program  includes: 

•  Free  Customer  Technical  Support  (For  all  registered  users) 

•  A  Money  Back  Guarantee  (If  you  can  find  a  better  program,  we'll  buy  it  for  you)** 

•  A  very  liberal  Upgrade  &  Exchange  Policy  (Which  means  you  never  have  to 
worry  about  obsolete  software)** 


S.R.P.  C64-$49.95 
C128-$6g.g5 


Word  Writer  3  has  more  fea- 
tures, more  power,  and  is 
easier-to-use  than  any  other 
C64  word  processor! 
Features: 

•  An  85,000-Word  Spell 
Checker— plus,  unlimited 
sub-dictionaries, 

•  An  Integrated  Thesaurus 
with  over  60,000  synonyms 
and  alternatives. 

•  An  Integrated  Outline 
Processor  that  quickly 

organizes  notes,  facts,  and  ideas  into  a  convenient  out- 
line format, 

•  An  80-Column  Print  Preview  Mode 

•  Highlighting:  Prints  out  your  text  incorporating  under- 
lining, boldface,  italic,  superscript,  subscript,  and  more. 

•  Headers  and  Footers 

•  Automatic  Program  Set-Up:  Configures  WORD 
WRITER  3  to  your  choice  of  printer  codes,  screen  colors, 
and  more. 

•  SwiftKeys*  access  commands  quickly  using  a  minimum 
of  keystrokes, 

•  Compatible  with  GEOS* 


PARTNER 

64 


S.R.P.  C64-$49.95 
C12B-$59.95 


The  Critic's  Choice 


WORD  WRITER  3. 
DATA  MANAGER  2,  and 
SWIFTCALC INTERFACE 
TOGETHER  FOR  A  COM- 
PLETE PRODUCTIVFTY 
SYSTEM! 


pIaNNER  is  a  class  act  from  stan    ^^^^^^3,^55 


outstanding  pMi.=- 

-using  WORD  WRITER  is  an  absolute^^^^^^^^^^ 

..pARTNERmavbeco-.^-— r.^^ 
you  have . . .Timeworks has      ^^^ute-sG^ette 

deservedly  so.  ,,  ,se  well  documented 

-DATA  MANAGER  2  is  easy  to  use^^^^  ^^^^^^ 

rj^Ke^i^^^^^^^^^^ 

businesses. 

■Reg.  Irademarks  of  Commodore  EleclronJcs,  Lid- 
Berkeley  Software,  Inc.,  Timeworks,  Inc. 
c  1982  Timeworks.  Inc.  AN  Rights  Reserved. 


PARTNER  64. 

A  cartridge-based  product 
with  eight  instantly  accessi- 
ble, memory-res/den(  desktop 

accessories. 

Accessories  include: 

•  Appointment  Calendar 
&  Date  Book 

•  Name,  Address,  and 
Phone  List 

•  Auto  Dialer  •  Memo  Pad 

•  Label  Maker  &  Envelope 
Addresser 

•  Calculator  •  typewriter 

•  Screen  Print 
Other  features  include: 

•  SwiftDos:  Allows  you  to  access  Commodore  disk  drive 
commands  any  time. 

•  SwiftLock:  Enter  your  secret  code  before  you  leave  your 
computer.  The  keyboard  will  be  locked  until  you  re-enter 
the  code. 

•  Extended  Printer  Control:  Enables  you  to  send  com- 
mands directly  to  your  printer  at  any  time. 

•  SwiftLoad:  Allows  your  Commodore  1541  disk  drive  to 
load  as  fast  as  the  1571  disk  drive. 


Data  Manager  2,. 

A  highly  flexible  filing  and 
recordkeeping  system  that 
stores,  retrieves,  sorts,  eval- 
uates, and  updates  large 
amounts  of  information. 
Features: 
A  Report  Writer:  Gen- 
erates customized  data 
reports.  You  specify  the  title, 
location,  and  sequence  of 
each  column. 
A  Label  Maker:  Prints 
your  name  and  address  file 
onto  standard  mailing  labels,  and  transfers  and  prints 
text  information  onto  labels  and  tags. 
Quick  Access  to  important  information:  Retrieves 
and  prints  items  by  name,  date  range,  index  code— or 
any  category  stored  in  the  system. 
*  Calculates  numerical  data  from  column  to  col- 
umn and  field  to  field:  Allows  you  to  perform  spread- 
sheet tasks  such  as  payroll  calculations,  cost  estimates. 
0  Compatible  with  GE05 


S.R.P.   C64-S39.95 
C128-$69.95 


1,800,007  PROGRAMS, 
SOmmNG  RIGHT. 


S.R.P.  C64-S4Q.95 
C128-S69.95 


SYIMA  PORTERS 
Personal  Financial 
Planner.. 

All  the  computer  tools  you'll 
need  to  manage  your  money 
on  a  day-to-day  basis,  and 
plan  your  financial  future, 
too! 

For  Your  Day-to-Day 
Affairs: 

•  Maintains  your  elec- 
tronic checkbook  and 
credit  card  transactions. 

•  Writes  your  checks  and  balances  your  checkbook. 

•  Prepares  and  monitors  your  budget 

•  Classifies  and  tracks  your  taxable  income  and 
expenses 

•  Calculates  your  net  worth  and  generates  cus- 
tomized personal  financial  statements 

•  l^cks  your  financial  assets-and  your  insurance 
policies. 

For  Your  Rnancial  Future: 

Leads  you  step-by-step  through  a  series  of  questions 
regarding  your  financial  goals,  and  your  current  financial 
condition.  Your  answers  will  enable  your  computer  to 
determine  and  print  a  summary  of  the  amounts  you  must 
save  each  year  to  meet  your  financial  objectives-in  both 
real  and  inflated  dollars. 

SwiftCalc 

A  powerful,  easy-to-use  elec- 
tronic spreadsheet  designed 
for  home  and  business  use. 
Features: 
Sideways:  Prints  all  your 
columns  on  one,  continu- 
ous sheet...  sideways. 
250  rows  and  104  col- 
umns provide  more  than 
25,000  cells  (locations)  in 
which  to  place  information. 
Performs  mathematical 
functions,  up  to  12  digits. 
Allows  the  use  of  minimum  and  maximum  values,  aver- 
ages, sums,  integers,  absolute  values,  and  exponential 
notation, 

•  Performs  financial  analysis  functions,  calculates 
the  present  and  future  value  of  a  dollar  and  the  present 
and  future  value  of  a  constant  amount  (annuity). 
'  SwiftLoad:  Allows  your  1541  Disk  Drive  to  load  up  to  5 
times  faster. 

'  Produces  "What  If?"  Reports:  Applies  mathematical 
functions  and  algebraic  formulas  to  any  spreadsheet-type 
analysis,  such  as  budgeting,  financial  planning,  or  cost 
estimating.  Calculates  these  formulas  and  produces 
complicated  "What  If?"  Reports  at  the  press  of  a  key 


S.R.P.  C64-S39.95 
C128-S69.05 


Tmeworks  Desktop 
PUBLISHER,. 

Where  you  once  needed 
a  typesetter,  designer,  and 
paste-up  artist,  you  can  do 
it  all  yourself  with  THE 
TIMEWORKS  DESKTOP 
PUBLISHER.  Includes  every- 
thing you  need  to  produce 
professional-quality  printed 
documents  on  your  C64 
S.R.P.  $59.95  computer. 

Features; 

•  Automatic  Page  Style  Formatting:  Set  up  a  page 
style  only  once.  The  computer  follows  it  automatically 
inserting  rules,  headers,  and  footers. 

•  A  Full-Featured  Word  Processor 

•  A  Wide  Variety  of  Font  Styles  in  Multiple  Sizes 

•  A  Built-in  Text  Editor  that  allows  you  to  write  head- 
lines, taglines,  and  captions  to  fit  any  space. 

•  High  Resolution  Graphics:  Imports  illustrations  and 
graphics  from  leading 
graphic  programs. 

•  Automatic  Kerning: 
Opens  or  tightens  word 
and  letter  spacing  for  a 
truly  professional  look, 

•  A  Wide  Selection 
of  Built-in  Patterns, 
Textures,  and  Shades 

•  A  Complete  Set  of 
Built-in  Drawing  Tools: 
Draw  lines,  boxes,  circles, 
and  polygons  automatically 
—or,  draw  free  hand. 

•  Use  THE  TIMEWORKS 
DESKTOP  PUBLISHER 
to  produce:  Newsletters. 
Brochures,  Flyers,  Forms, 
Reports,  Bulletins,  Menus. 
Certificates,  Letterheads, 
Newspapers— the  pos- 
sibilities are  endless! 


Available  at  your  favorite  dealer,  or  contact  Timeworks  toddy 

To  Order  Call:  1-312-948-9202 

For  Update  Information  Call:  1-312-948-9206 


kilii'^IIVdW 


MORE  POWER  FOR  YOUR  DOLLAR 

Timeworks,  Inc.  444  Lake  Cook  Road. 
Deerfield,  Illinois  60015     312-948-9200 


"Delails  on  every  Timeworks  package 


>^k^ 


^     *^^^ 


• 


Solve  •  Calculate 


T^TJ 


Filers 


You  can  do  almost  anything. 


You  can  do  it. 
You  really  can. 

These  are  all  of  the  wonderful 

Ihings  you  can  do  with  your 
Commodore  64  or  128  and 
Pocket'"  2  Software.  This  is  the 
software  thai  can  make  you  an  ace 
,n  30  minutes...  «*wi/>"Wi«' 
„rrer  louched  a  computer  before. 

The  reason?  Pocket'"  2 
Software  is  menu  driven.  It  has  all 
of  the  help  and  instructions  you 
need  right  on  the  screen.  AH  of 
the  power  of  your  computer  IS 
nghi  there  at  your  fingertips.  U  s 
such  an  exhilarating  feeling,  you 
might  find  yourself  humming  the 
theme  to 'Rocky'. 

Fast,  flexible  and 
affordable. 

At  Digital  Solutions,  we're 
committed  lo  making  our  software 
work  for  you.  Naturally,  all 
Pocket'"  2  software  is  fully 
integrated  and  GEOS'" 
compatible.  It's  people  logical... 

notjust  machine  logical, 

All  those  wt)nderful  Ihings 
you've  hea«l  about  Pocket"^  2 
Software  are  tnie.  Just  wait  until 
you  get  your  hands  on  ii. 

Digital  Superpak"  2 
...  A  super  idea 

One  of  the  beauties  of  Pocket'" 
2  Software  is  that  all  three 
programs  work  beautifully 
together.  Ntorking  together, 
they're  more  powerful  and  give 
you  a  whole  new  range  of  opUons 
and  possibilities. 

Not  only  that,  when  you 
order  Pocket  Writer^"  2.  Pocket 
Planner'"  2  and  Pocket  Filer'" 
bundled  together  in  Digital 
Superpak'"2.youcansave 
a  bundle  of  money.  Just 
$99.95  U.S. 


Pbcket  Writer^"  2 
The  Award  \Vinner 

Experts  caU  Pocket  Writer'"  2 
the  best  word  processor  ever. 
With  its  menu-driven,  on-screen 
instructions,  you'll  fly  through 
letters,  presentations,  memos, 
lists,  reports  and  articles.  In  fact, 
if  you  need  to  write  it.  Pocket 
Writer'"  2  will  make  it  easier.  You 
can  formal  your  words  the  way 
you  want  them.  You  can  change 
vour  mind.  You  can  even  stay  on 
iop  of  your  speUing  with  Spellmg 
Checker,  Only  $59.95  U.S, 

Pocket  Filer^^  2...  like 
a  giant  file  drawer 

Pocket  Filer'"  2  IS  a  full- 
featured  database  that  will  help 
you  to  keep  track  of  just  about 
anything.  No  matter  what  kind  of 

information  you  have  to  store, 
pbcket  Filer'"  2  will  help  you  to 

organize  it  better,  process  it  m 
more  ways  and  retrieve  it  faster 
when  you  need  it. 

At  home  or  at  the  office,  now 
you  can  organize  information 
the  way  .vow  want  it.  Only 
$59.951I.S. 


....    Sort 
Report 


ft)cket  Planner'**  2 
It  figures 

Pocket  Planner'"  2  is  the 
answer  for  number  crunchers. 
This  powerful  electronic 
spreadsheet  is  the  right  tool  for 
coUecting.  stonng.  analysing  and 
reporting  information . .  financial 
or  numerical.  It's  a  common- 
sense  solution  lor  managing  your 
checkbook,  budget,  installment 
payments,  worksheets  or 
investment  portfolio.  Pocket 
Planner' "  2  lets  you  put  some  real 
bite  into  your  number  crunching. 
Only  $59.95  U.S. 

•Commodore  Manaziw.  July  1987 


Pocket 


ProliMJonal  Word  P««»«»r^ 


S«te«1  «»<»-•«  iKBT-triw^UW"' 


ry 


Digital 


ProfaH'onal  Word  Proteitor, 


for  Iho  Commodor 


can'llinclPocker 


Sri!^----^---'^^"^^^^ 


CHARGE 
CARD  # 


™m/m 


Order  your*  today. 


DigitalSupcrpak'"2.s^.stSW-9.'iU.S. 

Ptock.tFi!er"'2a    DigiialSupen»k'"2  D   IhtalS- 
Name:. 


DiaHal 
Mutioiis 


2-30  AAferlheim  Court 
Richmond  HiU.  Ontario 
Canada    UB  1B9 
(416)  731-8775 


**<^ 


MPUTE!  AND  GAZETTE 


STRATEGY  GAMES 

6  Chess    John  Krause 

9  Power  Poker   Jud  Bleser 

10  Solitare   Ben  Bizet 

1 1  Sea  Route  To  India     M.  J.  Winter 

12  Campaign  Manager   ....   Todd  l-ieimarcl( 

16  Pool     Joseph  T.  Wjyton 

1 7  Bingo  64  Richard  L  Witcover 

18  Sleuth    PaulD.  Farquhar 

20  Switchbox Todd  Heimarcl( 

23  Hex  War    Todd  Heimarck 

ACTION  GAMES 

22  Q-Bird    Mike  Sedore 

25  Space  Gallery    Jeff  A.  Lapkofi 

26  Whirlybird    Philip  I.  Nelson 

27  Prisonball     John  Scarborough 

28  Quicl<change Kevin  Mykytyn 

and  Mark  Tuttie 

29  Saloon  Shootout     David  Hensley,  Jr 

and  Mark  Tuttie 

30  Props Philip  /.  Nelson 

34  Powerball    William  Chin 

35  Laser  Beam    Mike  Greenfield 

36  Bagdad    Bryan  Files 

37  Arcade  Baseball    Kevin  Mykytyn 

and  Mark  Tuttie 

38  Eagles  And  Gators Philip  I.  Nelson 

40  Face-Off Kevin  Mykytyn 

and  Mark  Tuttie 

41  Space  Arena    Bryan  Files 

42  Kicker    John  Krause 

and  Mark  Tuttie 

43  Heat  Seeker   Jetf  ]/\tolverton 

PROGRAMMING  UTILITIES 

44  Fast  Assembler Yves  Han 

48    Disk  Editor Kevin  Mykytyn 

50    Fast  File  Copier    Ross  Ouwinga 

52  Omega  Sort   Jonathan  J  Holuta 

53  Automatic  Syntax  Checker 

Philip  /.  Nelson 

56    X  BASIC     Kevin  Martin 

59     1 28  Editing  Functions Jim  Allen 

61     Archive  Philip  I  Nelson 

142    Unicopy    Jim  Butterfield 


GRAPHICS  UTILITIES 

65    Fontier    Tapan  Desai 

69  Expandable  Graphics  Dumps    

Fred  Solmer 

70  Hi-Res  Screen  Dump Gregg  Peele 

7 1  Sprite  Magic Charles  Brannon 

76     Fast  Hi-Res  Screen  Dump 

Robert  F  Mills 

79    Ultrafont+     Charles  Brannon 

83    Screen-80 Gregg  Peele 

and  Kevin  Martin 

APPLICATIONS 

85    Skyscape    Robert  M.  Simons 

87  Number  Construction  Kit   

Gerald  W.  Rightmer 

88  Home  Financial  Calculator    

Patrick  Parrish 

91     Budget  Planner    Gregory  L  Smith 

93  Catologer    Kevin  Mykytyn 

94  Mini-Filer    Kevin  Martin 

127    Free-Form  Filer    David  Myles 

METABASIC 

96    MetaBASIC  64    Kevin  Mykytyn 

100  MetaBASIC  Plus    John  Brox  Shadle 

101  MetaBASIC  128    Kevin  Mykytyn 


SPEEDSCRIPT 


103 
113 
114 
116 
116 
118 
125 
126 


SpeedScript  3.2 

Fontmaker 

MoilMerge 

ScriptSove 

SpeedCalc 

SpeedView 

Sequential  File  Converter 

ScriptRead    


Charles  Brannon 
Charles  Brannon 
.  .  Jerry  Starling 
J  Blake  Lambert 
.  .  Kevin  Martin 
Mark  Schreiner 
.  .  Ron  Carnell 
.  Buck  Childress 


THE  TURBO  SERIES 

129    TurboDisk  64  Don  Lewis 

132  Turbo  Bootmaker   Bert  Rosenberg 

133  TurboDisk  Relocator  Dino  Bavaro 

134  TurboDisk  128   Don  Lewis 

136    TurboSave  128   Michael  Henry 

139  TurboSave  64  William  Voosen 

140  Turbo  Format    Ross  Ouwinga 


Pnblisher 

James  A.  Caurlla 

Editoriiil  l)im'(or 

Richard  Mansfield 

MiiniiuinK  t^dilor 

Kaihtccn  Maninek 

A'isiK'iHlt'  I'ubliihfr 

Sclb>  Baieman 

Pruducliiin  Dirtvliir 

Tonv  Robcns 

Fdiwt.  COMPllKIand 

coMPn  t:;\  gazkii  k 

Lance  Flko 

Ediliw.  C-OMPn  Ers  AUm 

S )  Disk  &  MBgazini'  and 

CDMPlIK's  K   MaBiwiiK 

Tom  R.  Hallhill 

Milof,  COMPl  [K's  Apple 

ApplicHlions  Mift'l'ii>c 

Cirtgg  Ki'i/cr 

Fmtures  Kdilur 

Keiih  Ferrcll 

Technical  Kditor 

Otiis  R  Cowper 

As^isianl  Tvchnimt  Fidiliirs 

Dale  McBane.  Jim  Fucht 

Assi^IunI  Kdilnrs 

Todd  Hcimarck,  Rhcii 

\nderion,  John  Shadle.  Rand\ 

Thompson.  Clill"  Karnes 

PruEtamniinB  Superiisor 

[■ainck  Pamsh 

Edilurial  ProKrammers 

Tim  Victor,  Tim  MidkilT. 

William  Chin.  GcorBc  Miller 

Bu>Fr''>  tiuidv  Conrdinaliir 

Caroline  Hanlon 

Copy  KdiriitN 

Karen  l.'hiendorf,  Karen 

Sicpak.  Jill  Champion 

Submis'tiun-i  RetieHer 

DaMd  Henslcv 

PrnRniniminit  As^i^lanl■• 

Trov  Tucker.  Jovce  Sides 

E\vculi>L'  Assi\lanl 

Dcbi  Nash 

Adminixirslix'  A%*ii'iranls 

Julia  Fleming.  Ins  Brooks, 

Svbil  Agcc 

Recepliiinj<il 

Aniia  'Xrmlleld 

CX)MPl  rK!\  BiHik  Di.Uion 

tidllor 

Stephen  Lev  J 

AwiisunI  Uiton 

Tammic  Taylor.  Robert  Bivh\. 

L>nnc  Weatherman 

Program  mi  nK  AsxiMant 

David  Rorancc 

Diri-clor  of  Naiionul  Sales 

Joseph  W.  Hatcher 

Production  Manajt^r  Irmu  Swam 

An  Director  Janice  R,  Far> 

ASHStant  \ri  Dirtiior  Lee  Noel,  Jr 

Assbuni  Production  Manaiter  [X'  Putter 

Aldm  Rubin  Case,  Kim  Poiiv  Scolly 

Billings.  Tony  Jacobson 

TyprscliinR  Tern  Cash.  Carole  Dunlon 

llluMnilur  H;irr)  Blair 


Director  nf  AdierlisInK  Sales 
Adiertisint:  Director 
Prod  ucl  kin  Ciiordinalor 


Peter  Johnsmevcr 
Bernard  J,  Theobald.  Jr. 
Kathleen  Kanlon 


CusinmtT  Senke  ManaKtr         Diane  Longo 
Dealer  Sales  Supenisor  Jose  Cru/ 

lndi>idual  Order  Supervisor       Cassandra  Crrcen 


James  A.  Casclla.  ['resident 

Rkbard  Mansncld.  Vice  Presideni,  Editorial  Director 
Richud  J  Marino.  Vice  Prcsidcnl.  Advcnismg  Sales 
llcnc  Bcrson  Weiner,  Vice  President,  Production 


Kdilorial  Board 

Richard  Mansfield.  Kathleen  Mariinek,  Sclbv  Baieman,  Unce 

Elko.  Tom  R.  Halfhill.  Stephen  Lcv> 

Robert  l.iK-k,  Founder  and  Edilonal  Consultant 


Editorial  ofTiees: 


Corporate  oflicc*: 


Cuslomer  Seniee: 


Dnler  Saks: 


3; J  West  \Kendover  Avenue 

Suite  1(X> 

Greensboro.  NC  27408  USA 

825  7th  Avenue 

New  York,  NY  tOOI9 

212.265-S360 

BOO-346-6767  (in  NY  212-88T-8525) 

10:00  AM-I2;30PM: 

1:3(1  PM-3:00  PM  Monday-Friday 

800-638-3822  (In  NY  212-887-8566) 

9  AM-5  PM  Mondav-Fndav 


Adti-nisinK  Sales  Representatives 
Nen  England  &  Ntid  Atlantic 

BiTnard  Theobald.  Thomas  Link:  212-31S-166S 
MidHesI  &  SoulhHesI 

Jerry  Thompson,  Lucille  Dennis:  .112-726-6047  (Chicagol. 

71.3-731-2605  (Texas).  .*03-5'J5-')299  (Colorado).  415-348-8222 

(California) 
Vi'est.  NarthMcsl  &  British  Columbia 

Jerry  Thompson.  Lucille  Dennis:  415- .348-8222 
SoulheasI  A  Inlernalional 

HarT\  Blair  91V-275-mw 


Send  all  advertising  matcnals  to. 
Kaihleen  Hanlon 

324  West  Wendovcr  Ave..  Suite  200 
Greensboro.  NC  27408 


Editor's  Notes 


Since  its  first  issue  in  1979,  COM- 
PUTE! has  published  programs  for 
Commodore  computers.  Back  then, 
the  PET— grandfather  of  the  VIC, 
64,  and  128 — was  the  reigning 
Commodore  machine.  In  the  years 
since,  we've  continued  to  offer  some 
of  the  finest  software  for  Commo- 
dore computers  available  anywhere. 
Collected  here,  in  this  special 
issue,  is  the  best  of  COMPUTE!  and 
GAZETTE — our  best  games,  best 
programming  utilities,  best  graph- 
ics utilities,  and  best  applications 
programs.  You'll  find  SpeedScript, 
an  exceptional  word  processor; 
"Campaign  Manager,"  an  engaging 
simulation  of  the  presidential  elec- 
tion campaign;  "Laser  Beam,"  a 
fast-paced  game  that  really  tests 
your  joystick  prowess;  "Meta- 
BASIC,"  a  powerful  BASIC-lan- 
guage  extension  that  makes 
programming  much  easier;  and 
dozens  more. 

Using  The  Programs 

We  recommend  that  you  copy  the 
programs  from  the  enclosed  disk  to 
working  disks  before  you  run  them. 
Then  store  the  original  disk  safely 
away  as  a  backup.  You  can  use  the 
"Unicopy"  utility  on  the  disk  to 
quickly  back  up  all  the  files. 

When  originally  published, 
these  programs  were  provided  as 
printed  listings  that  had  to  be  typed 
into  the  computer  before  they  could 
be  used.  In  this  collection,  the  pro- 
grams are  packed  onto  both  sides  of 
a  5 'A -inch  disk,  ready  to  be  loaded 
and  used. 


Most  of  these  programs  work 
on  the  Commodore  64  and  on  the 
Commodore  128  running  in  64 
mode.  Several,  however,  are  writ- 
ten specifically  to  take  advantage  of 
the  128's  special  features.  These 
programs  are  labeled  with  the  char- 
acters 128  on  the  program  disk. 

In  general,  you'll  find  the  pro- 
gram names  identical  to  the  article 
titles.  View  the  disk  directory  by 
entering 
LOAD  "$",8 

and  then  LIST.  If  you  don't  see  the 
file  you're  looking  for,  turn  the  disk 
over  and  repeat  the  process  on  the 
other  side. 

In  most  cases,  there's  nothing 
more  to  do  but  load  and  run  the 
program,  but  do  read  the  article 
that  accompanies  each  program  for 
specific  loading  instructions  and  an 
explanation  of  all  the  program's 
features. 

We  know  you'll  enjoy  these 
programs.  Readers  of  COMPUTE! 
and  GAZETTE  have  been  using 
them — and  telling  us  how  much 
they  like  them — for  years. 


COMPUTEI  Publications,  Inc. 

Part  ot  ABC  ConturrMr  hlagiailnet,  Irtc. 
OtM  of  tha  ABC  PublliNng  Companl** 

ABC  PuDiiiTiing.  Prgs«]ent.  Robert  G  Burton 

1330  Avenue  ot  the  Amedcos.  ^4ew  Vortt.  New  Voiv  10019 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gizetir  for  Commodore  64 

and  128  IS  published  bv  COMPUTEr  Puhlicaiions,  Inc., 
B25  7th  Ave..  Neiv  York.  NY  10019  USA.  Phone:  (212) 
265-8360.  Editorial  Ofiite^  are  located  at  324  West 
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tents copy  right  JOI987  by  COMPUTE!  PuWicationi,  he. 
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The  Commodore  Connection, 


Try  to  outwit  your  computer  with  this 
fast,  multilevel  chess  game  for  the  64. 
A  joystick  is  required. 


The  world  was  amazed,  in  the  late 
eighteenth  century,  by  a  machine 
that  had  the  astonishing  ability  to 
play  a  good  game  of  chess.  It  enter- 
tained kings  and  queens.  It  defeat- 
ed Napoleon,  a  master  tactician. 
Hundreds  of  people  paid  to  com- 
pete against  it,  but  eventually  it  was 
revealed  that  a  small  man  was  hid- 
den inside  the  machine. 

A  chess-playing  machine  re- 
mained only  a  dream  until  the  late 
1950s  when  the  first  computer 
chess  game  was  played.  Now,  the 
World  Computer  Championship, 
held  every  three  years  since  1974, 
attracts  almost  as  much  publicity  as 
the  human  championship  matches. 
Why  has  there  been  so  much  inter- 
est in  machines  that  play  games? 

One  reason  is  that  chess  can  be 
used  to  measure  a  computer's  intel- 
ligence. Chess  is  easy  to  play,  but 
difficult  to  master.  So  difficult,  in 
fact,  that  some  experts  believe  that 
a  computer  would  have  to  be  al- 
most as  intelligent  as  a  human  to 
become  world  champion. 

Of  course,  another  reason  is 
that  chess  is  just  plain  fun,  but  not  if 
you  can't  find  an  opponent.  To  be 
an  entertaining  opponent,  a  com- 
puter chess  game  should  be  fast, 
easy  to  use,  and  capable  of  playing 
at  several  different  skill  levels. 
"Chess"  has  all  these  features  and 
more.  Although  it's  really  no  match 
against  the  best  commercial  chess 
games,  it  has  managed  to  defeat 
these  giants  of  the  microcomputer 
chess  world  on  rare  occasions. 

Joystick  Input 

The  program  is  found  in  two  parts 
on  the  disk.  To  start  the  game,  enter 


Ctiess 


John  Krause 


LOAD  "CHESS",8  and  then  RUN. 
The  first  program  will  automatical- 
ly load  the  second  (CHESS2)  at  the 
appropriate  time.  Both  files  must  be 
present  for  Chess  to  work.  After 
running  the  program,  you  will  be 
asked  to  specify  several  play  op- 
tions. You  can  choose  among  five 
skill  levels;  start  a  new  game  or  set 
up  any  position;  play  against  the 
computer  or  watch  it  play  against 
itself;  or  play  either  the  white  or 
black  pieces.  All  of  these  options 
will  be  discussed  in  greater  detail 
later,  but  for  now,  type  1  at  each 
prompt.  This  puts  you  in  command 
of  the  white  pieces  versus  the  com- 
puter on  level  one^  the  easiest  level. 

The  first  time  the  program  is 
run,  you  need  to  wait  a  few  seconds 
while  the  computer  gets  its  brain  in 
order.  Then  the  board  will  be  dis- 
played with  your  pieces  on  the  bot- 
tom of  the  screen  and  the  computer's 
pieces  on  the  top.  You  should  see  a 
frame  around  the  square  in  the  low- 
er-left comer  of  the  board  (the  VIC 
version  uses  a  blinking  square). 
This  is  the  cursor  which  takes  the 
place  of  your  hand  to  move  pieces 
around  the  board. 

Use  the  joystick  (plugged  into 
port  2)  to  move  the  cursor  atop  the 
piece  you  wish  to  move.  Press  and 
release  the  joystick  button.  Now 
move  the  cursor  to  the  square  you 
want  to  move  to  and  tap  the  button 
again.  Your  piece  moves  to  the  new 
square,  and  the  computer  responds 
almost  instantly  with  its  move. 

A  Spectacular  Blunder 

Did  you  make  a  foolish  move?  No 
problem.  One  of  the  most  valuable 
features  of  Chess  is  the  ability  to 
change  the  position  by  adding  or 
deleting  pieces.  This  feature  is  espe- 
cially useful  for  those  of  us  who 
frequently  manage  to  maneuver 
into  a  superior  position,  only  to 


throw  it  all  away  in  a  single,  spec- 
tacular blunder. 

A  piece  can  be  deleted  by  posi- 
tioning the  cursor  on  the  piece  and 
pressing  the  space  bar.  To  add  a 
piece  or  change  a  piece  to  a  differ- 
ent one,  move  the  cursor  to  the 
appropriate  square  and  press  P,  N, 
B,  R,  Q,  or  K  for  pawn,  knight, 
bishop,  rook,  queen,  or  king,  re- 
spectively. This  will  put  one  of  your 
pieces  on  the  square.  To  add  one  of 
the  computer's  pieces,  hold  down 
the  SHIFT  key  while  pressing  one 
of  these  editing  keys. 

To  take  back  a  move,  use  the 
editing  keys  to  delete  your  piece 
and  put  it  back  on  its  original 
square.  Don't  forget  to  take  back 
the  computer's  move,  too. 

The  editing  feature  also  en- 
ables you  to  make  special  moves 
which  cannot  be  made  with  the 
joystick  alone  such  as  castling  and 
en  passant  captures.  For  example, 
castling  can  be  accomplished  by  de- 
leting the  king  and  putting  it  on  its 
new  square,  and  then  moving  the 
rook  as  you  normally  would  with 
the  joystick.  Although  you  can 
make  these  special  moves,  the  com- 
puter will  never  castle  or  capture  en 
passant  because,  due  to  their  com- 
plexity, these  moves  were  not  in- 
cluded in  its  thinking  routine. 

Strange  Chess 

Although  the  computer  will  always 
make  a  legal  move,  it  doesn't  check 
to  see  that  you  do  the  same.  You  are 
free  to  move  any  of  your  pieces  to 
any  square  without  so  much  as  a 
contemptuous  buzz  from  the  com- 
puter. If  you're  an  experienced 
player,  this  shouldn't  be  a  problem. 
If  you're  a  beginner,  however,  you 
may  want  to  familiarize  yourself 
with  the  basic  rules  of  chess  lest 
you  end  up  playing  strange  chess,  a 
personal  version  which  bears  little 


6    Best  of  COMPUTE  I  and  Gazette 


How  Chess  Thinks 

You've  probably  heard  that  if  a  monkey  sat  down  at  a  typewriter  and 
pecked  randomly  at  the  keys  for  a  long  enough  period  of  time,  it  would 
eventually  type  the  complete  works  of  Shakespeare.  Theoretically,  this  is 
indeed  possible — given  enough  time.  There's  the  rub.  At  a  brisk  typing 
speed  of  50  words  per  minute,  it  would  take  that  poor  monkey  billions  of 
years  just  to  type  "To  be,  or  not  to  be."  Nevertheless,  there  is  power  in  trial 
and  error. 

The  Minimax  Algorithm 

Substitute  the  monkey  with  a  high-speed  computer,  and  this  technique 
becomes  a  practical  method  of  imitating  intelligence.  In  fact,  it  has  been 
used  with  great  success  in  the  field  of  artificial  intelligence.  This  program 
uses  a  popular  trial-and-error  technique  known  as  the  minimax  algorithm. 

The  computer  looks  at  the  present  board  position  and  mentally  moves 
the  pieces  through  all  the  possible  combinations  of  future  moves  and 
countermoves  up  to  a  certain  point,  say  three  moves  ahead.  For  each 
combination,  it  calculates  a  score  based  on  which  pieces  were  captured 
during  the  combination.  Each  piece  is  worth  a  certain  number  of  points 
depending  on  its  general  importance:  1  point  for  a  pawm,  3  for  a  knight  or 
bishop,  5  for  a  rook,  9  for  a  queen,  and  46  for  a  king.  (Of  course,  since  you 
lose  the  game  if  your  king  cannot  escape  capture,  the  value  of  a  king  is  ac- 
tually infinite,  but  46  is  high  enough  to  convince  the  computer  that  it's  a 
bad  move.) 

When,  in  a  move  being  examined,  the  computer  captures  an  oppo- 
nent's piece,  the  value  of  that  piece  is  added  to  the  score.  Conversely, 
when  one  of  the  computer's  pieces  is  captured,  its  value  is  subtracted  from 
the  score.  Thus,  a  high  score  is  considered  good  for  the  computer,  and  a 
low  score  is  good  for  its  opponent. 

The  task  is  to  find  the  combination  that  represents  best  play  for  both 
sides.  This  combinafion  is  not  necessarily  the  one  with  the  maximum 
score,  because  while  the  computer  is  trying  to  maximize  the  score,  its 
opponent  is  trying  just  as  hard  to  minimize  it.  The  best  combination  gives 
maximum  scores  during  the  computer's  moves,  and  minimum  scores 
during  the  opponent's  moves. 

After  the  best  combination  has  been  found,  the  computer's  best  move 
in  the  present  position  is  simply  the  first  move  in  the  combinafion.  The 
problem  has  been  reduced  from  analyzing  a  chess  position  to  finding  the 
maximum  and  minimum  of  a  series  of  numbers,  which  is  much  better 
suited  to  a  computer. 

50  Miliion  Combinations  On  Levei  5 

Like  most  algorithms  based  on  trial  and  error,  this  one  requires  siffing 
through  an  enormous  number  of  combinations  to  find  the  best  one. 
Fortunately,  a  few  tricks  can  be  used  to  reduce  the  combinafions  to  a 
manageable  number.  This  algorithm  uses  a  technique  called  alpha-beta 
cutoff.  It  makes  the.  computer  search  more  intelligently,  giving  it  the 
seemingly  paradoxical  ability  to  find  the  best  move  without  looking  at  all 
the  possible  combinafions.  On  level  5,  for  example,  instead  of  having  to 
search  through  roughly  2  billion  combinations,  it  looks  at  only  50  million. 
Even  so,  it  would  take  BASIC  from  now  fill  1986  to  generate  that 
many  combinations.  That's  why  the  algorithm  is  programmed  in  machine 
language.  An  advanced  programming  technique  knowm  as  recursion  (making 
a  subroutine  call  itself)  is  used  to  generate  all  the  possible  combinations  of 
moves.  Capable  of  analyzing  about  5000  combinations  per  second,  this 
roufine  provides  a  moderate  challenge  at  a  reasonable  playing  speed. 


resemblance  to  the  real  game.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  you  like  to  fudge 
a  bit,  the  computer  will  make  it 
easy.  It  will  politely  acquiesce  to 
your  most  surreal  moves. 

When  a  pawn  reaches  the  oth- 


er side  of  the  board,  it's  automati- 
cally promoted  to  a  queen.  If  you 
would  rather  have  a  knight,  bishop, 
or  rook,  you  can  easily  make  the 
change  using  the  editing  keys. 


Checlcmate 

The  computer  thinks  by  analyzing 
thousands  of  possible  moves  and 
countermoves  and  choosing  what  it 
considers  to  be  the  best  move  based 
on  the  relative  value  of  the  pieces 
(see  "How  Chess  Thinks").  Most  po- 
sitions don't  have  just  one  best  move 
but  several  which  are  equally  good, 
in  which  case  the  computer  chooses 
among  them  at  random.  This  ran- 
dom factor  insures  that  every  game 
vni\  be  different,  and  makes  for  var- 
ied and  interesting  play. 

Play  confinues  until  one  side  is 
either  checkmated  or  stalemated. 
The  computer  will  then  stop  play 
and  indicate  which  side  has  won. 

There  are  a  few  quirks  in  the 
way  the  computer  determines 
whether  checkmate  has  occurred. 
On  levels  three  through  five,  it  an- 
nounces checkmate  prematurely. 
When  this  happens,  the  computer 
has  determined  that  it's  impossible 
to  avoid  checkmate  on  the  next 
move  or  two,  assuming  both  sides 
make  the  best  moves. 

Also,  the  computer  doesn't 
know  the  subtle  difference  between 
checkmate  and  stalematg.  Conse- 
quenfiy,  when  stalemate  occurs,  it 
will  announce  checkmate  although, 
in  fact,  the  game  is  a  draw.  Since 
the  computer  tries  as  hard  as  it  can 
to  checkmate  its  opponent,  it  will 
also  try  to  achieve  stalemate,  possi- 
bly forcing  a  draw  when  it  could 
have  won.  Fortunately,  this  rarely 
happens  because  the  conditions  for 
stalemate  exist  only  in  unusual  cir- 
cumstances such  as  when  one  side 
has  only  the  king  remaining. 

Also,  the  computer  won't  give 
you  any  hint  when  your  king  is  in 
check  (not  checkmate).  So  be  extra 
careful  that  you  don't  leave  your 
king  in  check  or  move  into  check. 
Otherwise,  your  king  would  be  in 
check  during  the  computer's  turn  to 
move — a  highly  unorthodox  if  not 
illegal  position.  The  computer's  re- 
ply to  such  a  position  is  unpredict- 
able, but  it  usually  announces 
checkmate,  forcing  you  to  restart 
the  game. 

In  any  case,  when  the  com- 
puter announces  checkmate,  press 
the  joysfick  button  to  start  a  new 
game.  If  you  want  to  try  out  some  of 
the  other  play  options  without 
waiting  till  checkmate,  you  can  start 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  ond  Gazette     7 


a  new  game  at  any  time  by  pressing 
RUN/STOP-RESTORE  and  run- 
ning the  program  again. 

Play  Options 

When  you  choose  the  black  pieces, 
the  board  will  revolve  so  that  you 
still  play  from  the  bottom.  Since  the 
player  with  the  white  pieces  always 
moves  first,  you  must  wait  for  the 
computer  to  move  before  you  will 
be  allowed  to  make  your  first  move. 

If  you  become  mentally  ex- 
hausted after  several  bouts  against 
the  computer,  give  your  brain  a  rest 
and  watch  the  computer  play  itself. 
When  you  select  this  option,  just  set 
the  joystick  aside  and  sit  back  and 
watch  the  action.  Beginners  will 
find  this  feature  an  excellent  way  to 
learn  some  good  strategies  to  use 
against  the  computer. 

You  don 't  have  to  begin  a 
game  from  the  starting  position.  If 
you  choose  the  option  to  set  up  a 
position,  an  empty  board  will  be 
displayed  and  you  can  use  the  edit- 
ing keys  to  place  pieces  on  the 
board  in  any  position.  When  the 
position  is  set  up,  the  computer  will 
start  thinking  after  you  make  your 
first  move. 


This  feature  is  especially  useful 
for  continuing  a  previous  game  or 
creating  a  problem  for  the  computer 
to  solve.  It  also  allows  you  to  experi- 
ment with  hypothetical  or  down- 
right ridiculous  positions.  Live  out 
your  fantasy  by  giving  yourself  ten 
queens  versus  the  computer's  lone 
king.  The  position  doesn't  even 
have  to  be  a  legal  one.  You  could 
invent  your  own  type  of  chess  by 
giving  each  side  two  kings,  for  ex- 
ample, although  the  computer  may 
get  confused  trying  to  determine 
when  checkmate  has  occurred. 

One  of  the  advantages  of  a 
computer  opponent  over  a  human 
is  that  you  can  tell  the  computer 
exactly  how  hard  you  want  it  to  try 
to  beat  you,  and  it  will  obediently 
play  at  that  level  of  difficulty.  This 
is  important  because  it's  no  fun  if 
you  always  lose  or  always  win 
effortlessly. 

You  have  five  skill  levels  to 
choose  from.  The  difference  be- 
tween one  level  and  another  is  the 
number  of  moves  ahead  that  the 
computer  looks.  On  level  1,  for  ex- 
ample, it  looks  two  moves  ahead 
(its  move  and  your  reply).  Each  suc- 
ceeding level  looks  ahead  one  more 


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iDriSanM™ 

ti»  nasarwd 

'  Loycal  Design ' 
)  Momagus  Expwy..  Suiie  403 
I  JoM.  CA  95131  U.S.A.  (406)  43S-t44S 
EUROPE  tOenmJ'M  022«  97fi2 


CAUFORNIA 


M  now  lot  C  64,-12S  and 
ST  (cotof  ^  mono) 
I  lor  IBM  PC,  A()f]ta  II.  MKl  > 


move  than  the  previous  level. 

Alas,  the  smarter  play  on  the 
higher  levels  doesn't  come  without 
a  price.  The  further  ahead  the  com- 
puter looks,  the  more  moves  it  must 
examine  and,  hence,  the  longer  it 
thinks.  The  thinking  time  varies 
greatly  depending  on  the  level 
(about  one  second  per  move  on  lev- 
el 1;  about  two  hours  on  level  5). 

Here's  a  rundown  of  the  five 
levels: 

Level  1:  Beginner.  Thinking  time; 
one  second.  Look  ahead:  two 
moves.  Fast  but  dumb. 

Level  2:  Intermediate.  Thinking 
time:  five  seconds.  Look  ahead: 
three  moves.  Provides  a  reasonable 
challenge  for  impatient  players. 

Level  3:  Tournament.  Thinking 
time:  two  minutes.  Look  ahead: 
four  moves.  Since  the  usual  time 
limit  for  tournament  play  is  40 
moves  in  two  hours,  an  average  of 
three  minutes  per  move,  this  level 
is  best  suited  for  serious  players. 

Level  4:  Mate  in  two.  Thinking 
time:  30  minutes.  Look  ahead:  five 
moves.  Capable  of  solving  most 
male-in-two  problems. 

Level  5:  Postal  chess.  Thinking 
time:  two  hours.  Look  ahead:  six 
moves.  Simulates  postal  chess 
games  where  there  is  no  time  limit. 
Can  avoid  checkmate  in  two  moves. 

The  thinking  times  given  here 
are  average  times.  The  actual  time 
ranges  from  half  to  twice  the  aver- 
age time  depending  on  the  position. 

Level  4  can  be  used  to  solve 
mate-in-two  problems  such  as  those 
published  in  many  newspapers,  just 
select  the  following  options:  level  4, 
set  up  position,  computer  versus  it' 
self.  Enter  the  position  using  the  edit- 
ing keys,  and  then  make  a  do- 
nothing  move  by  positioning  the 
cursor  over  a  white  piece  and  press- 
ing the  joystick  button  twice.  After 
several  minutes  of  deep  thought,  the 
computer  should  respond  by  moving 
one  of  the  white  pieces  (the  solution) 
and  announcing  checkmate.  The 
only  mate-in-two  problems  that  the 
computer  cannot  solve  are  those 
which  involve  castling,  en  passant 
captures,  or  pawn  promotion.       ® 


8     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Power  Poker 


This  is  one  of  the  most  addictive 
games  we've  ever  published.  It  adds  a 
new  dimension  to  the  traditional 
game  of  poker,  and  is  fun  for  one 
player  or  in  competition  with  friends. 
For  the  Commodore  64. 


Poker  is  a  game  that's  just  as  popu- 
lar today  as  it  was  a  century  ago. 
Even  though  there's  always  a  ran- 
dom element  at  play,  it  usually  re- 
quires careful  thought  and  a 
knowledge  of  probability.  The  vari- 
ations created  by  the  cards  you're 
dealt  and  how  you  arrange  them 
makes  poker  unpredictable.  "Pow- 
er Poker,"  written  for  the  Commo- 
dore 64,  adds  a  new  twist  to  the 
game — rather,  another  dimension. 

A  Double  Purpose 

Think  of  this  game  as  two-dimen- 
sional poker.  You  play  on  a  five-by- 
five  grid  and  try  to  make  the  hands 
that  gain  the  most  points.  Each  card 
serves  two  hands,  so  placement 
must  be  done  carefully.  (If  you're 
new  to  poker,  see  "Poker  Hands.") 

When  you  run  the  program, 
you'll  see  a  table  of  the  number  of 
points  awarded  for  each  kind  of 
hand.  After  a  pause  of  a  few  sec- 
onds, you're  ready  to  begin.  A  five- 
by-five  grid  is  displayed,  each 
position  identified  by  a  letter  A-Y. 

The  computer  randomly  se- 
lects a  card  and  displays  it.  Place  it 
in  the  grid  by  pressing  the  appro- 
priate letter.  After  the  card  is 
placed,  a  new  one  is  chosen  and 
displayed,  and  so  on,  unhl  all  25 
cards  have  been  placed.   Choose 


Jud  Bleser 


your  moves  carefully,  and  remem- 
ber; There  are  52  cards  in  the  deck, 
but  you'll  only  have  25  to  play 
with.  The  goal  is  to  make  the  most 
points  possible.  Scoring  is  based  on 
the  hands  you  build.  After  a  col- 
umn or  row  is  completed,  points  are 
totaled  and  added  immediately  to 
your  score.  (High  score  is  displayed 
at  all  times  on  the  screen  also.) 

Here  are  the  values  for  each 
hand: 


Hand 


Points 


Royal  flush 
Straight  flush 
Four  of  a  kind 

400 
300 
160 

Straight 
Full  house 

120 
100 

Three  of  a  kind 

60 

Flush 

50 

Two  pair 
One  pair 

30 
10 

To  remember  the  value  of  each 
hand,  you  can  press  fl  at  any  time 


during  the  game  to  see  the  table  of 
values.  Press  it  again  to  resume 
play.  Poker  players  may  notice  that 
some  of  the  hands  are  out  of  order. 
Normally,  a  flush  would  be  much 
higher  on  the  list.  But  remember 
that  you're  drawing  25  cards  and 
the  odds  for  getting  two  or  three 
flushes  are  very  high.  Higher  point 
values  have  been  given  to  hands 
that  are  less  likely  to  occur. 

Hands  do  not  need  to  be  in 
sequential  order.  For  example,  "5,6, 
4,7,8"  is  a  valid  straight.  However, 
"roll-over"  or  "round  the  comer" 
straights  such  as  "3,2,A,K,Q"  are 
not  allowed.  Straights  using  an  ace 
as  low  (A,2,3,4,5)  or  high  (10,J, 
Q,K,A)  are  acceptable. 
If  you're  playing  Power  Poker  on  a 
black-and-white  TV,  change  the 
value  of  variable  TV  from  1  to  0  in 
line  100. 


Poker  Hands 

If  you've  never  played  poker,  it's  very  easy  to  learn.  There  are  52  cards,  di- 
vided into  four  sets  {or  suits)  of  13.  The  suits  are  hearts,  clubs,  spades,  and 
diamonds,  and  each  suit  consists  of  cards  numbered  2-10  with  a  jack, 
queen,  king,  and  ace.  The  object  is  to  make  one  of  the  following  hands 
(examples  are  in  parentheses): 

Royal  flush:  10,J,K,Q,A— all  of  the  same  suit 

Straight  flush:  a  sequence  of  five  of  the  same  suit  (9,10,J,Q,K — all 

diamonds) 
Four  of  a  kind:  four  of  the  same  value  (2,2,2,2) 
Straight:  five  in  sequence  (4,5,6,7,8) 
Full  house:  three  of  a  kind  plus  a  pair  (10,10,10,4,4) 
Three  of  a  kind:  three  of  the  same  value  (9,9,9) 
Flush:  five  of  the  same  suit  (2,K,8,A,5 — all  clubs) 
Two  pair:  two  groups  of  two,  each  of  the  same  value  {A,A,6,6) 
One  pair:  two  of  the  same  value  (10,10) 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     9 


Program  Construction 


Initialization 
Print  High  Score 
Print  Score 
Call  Screen  #2 
Shuffle/Grid  Set-Up 
Came  Play  Routine 
Test  for  Completed  Row 
Test  for  Completed  Column 
Game  End  Routine 
Data  Collection  -  Row 
Data  Collection  -  Column 
Data  Evaluation 
Print/Flash  Poker  Hand 
Data:  Redefined  Characters 
Data:  Cards/Suits 
Data:  Screen  Location  Table 
Data:  ML  Routines 


Line  #  Function 

100-380 
390-420 

430-460 

470-490 

500-550 

560-650 

660-670 

680-690 

700-780 

790-890 

900-990 

1000-1120 

1130-1150 

1160-1290 

1300-1310 

1320-1340 

1350-1730 

Variables 

A$  "{16  DOWN}" 

B$  "{1  DOWN}  {27  RIGHT}" 

C$  poker  hand  scored 

CA  card  (Jl) 

CK  shuffle  check 

CO  color 

CS  total  value  of  row/column 

E  box  used 

H  box  selected 

HS  high  score 

K  same  kind 

L  same  suit 

NH  new  high  score 

P  card  to  flash 

R  straight 

SC  score 

SM  screen  memory 

SU  suit  02) 

TV  color  or  b/w  television 

Machine  Language  Routines 


49166 
49180 
49194 
49297 
49396 
49422 
49449 
49502 


While  Background 
Clear  Card 
Grid  Set  Up 
Draw  Card 
Flash  Off 
Flash  On 
Save  Color 
Restore  Color 


SOLiTAIRE 


Ben  Elizer 


Looking  for  something  different  to  do 
with  your  computer?  Like  the  conven- 
tional game  of  solitaire,  this  comput- 
erized version  requires  you  to  think 
ahead  at  all  times. 


"Solitaire"  is  an  electronic  version 
of  the  familiar  card  game.  Like  the 
original,  this  game  challenges  you 
to  put  a  deck  of  cards  in  order  using 
the  fewest  possible  moves. 

Unstiuffling  Ttie  Decic 

As  you  probably  know.  Solitaire 
has  a  very  simple  object.  After  shuf- 
fling a  deck  of  playing  cards,  you 
must  put  them  back  in  order,  fol- 
lowing a  few  simple  rules.  Though 
there  are  several  different  varia- 
tions of  the  conventional  game, 
here  are  the  rules  for  this  version: 

When  you  run  the  program, 
the  computer  deals  out  four  rows  of 
13  cards,  then  removes  the  aces, 
leaving  four  empty  spaces.  Your 
goal  is  to  rearrange  the  cards  into 
four  rows  of  the  same  suit,  putting 
the  cards  in  each  row  in  ascending 
order  from  the  lowest  (2)  to  the 
highest  (king),  without  leaving  any 
empty  spaces  between  cards.  That 
sounds  simple  enough.  But  since 
you  must  move  a  card  into  one  of 
the  four  empty  spaces,  your  choices 
for  any  given  move  are  limited. 

Your  position  on  the  screen  is 
shown  by  a  blinking  cursor.  Press 
the  M  key  to  move  from  the  current 


position  to  another  empty  space. 
When  you  press  P,  the  computer 
moves  a  card  into  the  current  space: 
Which  card  it  puts  there  depends 
on  which  card  is  immediately  to  the 
left  of  the  space.  Whenever  possi- 
ble, the  computer  uses  the  next  card 
in  suit.  For  example,  if  the  card  to 
the  left  of  your  current  position  is 
the  2  of  hearts,  pressing  P  puts  the  3 
of  hearts  in  the  current  space  and 
puts  a  space  where  the  3  of  hearts 
was  before.  If  you  press  P  on  a 
space  to  the  right  of  the  queen  of 
diamonds,  the  king  of  diamonds 
moves  from  its  current  position  to 
that  space,  and  so  on.  Each  time 
you  press  P,  one  space  is  filled  and 
another  is  emptied. 

in  this  way  you  can  gradually 
move  cards  into  the  right  order. 
When  you  press  P  on  a  space  at  the 
beginning  of  a  row,  the  computer 
asks  which  suit  to  play  (hearts, 
clubs,  spades,  or  diamonds).  This 
determines  the  suit  for  that  row. 
While  it's  possible  to  win  on  only 
one  deal,  most  games  require  two  or 
more  deals.  When  no  moves  are 
possible  (every  empty  space  is  fol- 
lowed by  a  king  or  another  space), 
the  computer  automatically  shuffles 
the  remaining  cards  and  deals  them 
out  again.  Of  course,  it  does  not 
disturb  cards  that  are  already  in  cor- 
rect order.  You'll  find  that  it  takes 
considerable  foresight  to  win  consis- 
tently in  only  two  or  three  deals. 
Completely  random  play  results  in 
an  average  of  nine  or  ten  deals.  Q 


Sea  Route  to  India 

A  Historical  Simuiation 
For  Tl-ie  64 


Here's  your  chance  to  make  history  on 
the  "Sea  Route  to  India." Following  in 
the  wake  of  Portuguese  explorers,  you 
can  find  gold  and  adventure,  if  you 
don't  starve,  or  get  sunk  by  pirates,  or 
capsize  in  a  terrible  storm. 


One  of  the  earliest  games  for  PET 
computers  was  Westward  Ho,  in 
which  the  player  becomes  a  tum- 
of- the -century  pioneer,  trying  to 
cross  the  country  in  a  covered  wag- 
on. Decisions  must  be  made  about 
purchasing  food,  supplies,  and  am- 
munition. Various  experiences — 
hunting,  Indian  attacks,  settle- 
ments— occur  on  each  leg  of  the 
journey.  By  repeatedly  playing  the 
game,  the  user  leams  where  to 
spend  money,  how  to  hunt,  and 
whether  to  trust  strangers.  Luck, 
however,  is  a  major  factor  in  suc- 
cess. PET  users  of  all  ages  played 
the  game  over  and  over  until  they 
finally  reached  the  West  Coast. 

Westward  Ho  was  an  abbreviat- 
ed version  of  Oregon  Trail,  in  which 
the  game's  designers  took  pains  to 
produce  an  accurate  simulation. 
They  used  prices  from  contempo- 
rary catalogs,  and  calculated  fre- 
quencies and  likely  locations  of 
Indian  attacks  by  studying  histori- 
cal accounts.  The  result  was  a  game 
that  was  both  interesting  and  infor- 
mative. 

Soil  Ttie  Bounding  Main 

"Sea  Route  To  India"  uses  a  similar 
technique,  drawing  on  the  voyages 
made  by  Portuguese  explorers  in 
the  fifteenth  century. 

The  subroutine  beginning  at 
line  15000  introduces  the  game  and 
gives  you  the  rules. 

Your  goal  is  to  sail  from  Lisbon 
around  Africa  to  India.  During  the 


M.  J-  Winter 

voyage,  you  encounter  the  same 
dangers  faced  by  the  real  explorers: 
hunger,  thirst,  pirates,  natives, 
weather,  mutiny,  and  attack  by 
Arab  traders. 

Your  journey  is  charted  in 
weeks  on  a  map  displayed  on  the 
screen.  Lines  500-800  contain  the 
loop  for  each  week.  The  miles  you 
sail  depend  on  the  weather.  Each 
week  your  store  of  water,  food,  and 
supplies  decreases  by  one  unit.  If 
your  voyage  lasts  more  than  30 
weeks,  the  crew's  happiness  also 
decreases  by  1. 

Each  week  you  have  a  new 
experience;  line  560  sends  the  pro- 
gram to  the  appropriate  event.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  voyage,  you 
sight  whales  and  other  ships,  and 
sail  into  terrible  storms.  But  after 
you  pass  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
and  pick  up  your  Indian  pilot,  you 
might  be  attacked  at  any  time  by 
Arab  dhows. 

Check  Your  Progress 
Every  Weeic 

At  the  end  of  each  week,  the  pro- 
gram assesses  your  situation.  If  you 
sailed  far  enough  to  visit  the  Ca- 
nary or  Cape  Verde  Islands,  then 
your  water,  food,  supplies,  and 
crew  happiness  are  restored.  The 
ship's  log  is  updated,  and  the  game 
map  shows  your  progress.  Lines 
91-93  define  DT$  (dots);  three 
characters  are  needed  for  each  dot. 
One  dot  on  the  map  represents  200 
miles  (line  1002).  Then,  if  there 
have  been  no  fatal  shortages,  the 
voyage  continues  for  another  week. 
Your  ship  "sails"  across  the 
screen  in  line  15155.  In  the  race 
(lines  3093,  3096),  the  ships  are 
placed  at  the  right  of  the  screen  and 
a  string  of  DELETEs  is  printed  sev- 
eral times.  (If  you  win  the  race,  the 


crew  is  happier;  they  become  dis- 
gruntled by  a  loss.) 

Lines  1000-1250  contain  the 
whale  hunting  routine.  The  whales 
are  within  a  long  string  (F$)  of  shift- 
ed spaces,  which  are  cyclically  rear- 
ranged (line  1210)  and  the  leftmost 
40  characters  printed  each  time.  The 
program  checks  the  keyboard,  then 
moves  the  whales  until  you  press  H, 
which  drops  the  harpoon.  The  pro- 
gram then  alternately  moves  the 
whales  and  lowers  the  harpoon. 

To  check  whether  the  harpoon 
hits  a  whale,  the  screen  is  opened 
for  INPUT  (line  1100).  The  entire 
row  of  the  screen  to  the  right  of  the 
harpoon  is  input.  If  the  first  charac- 
ter is  not  a  shifted  space,  a  whale 
has  been  hit. 

Landfall  To 
Gattier  Supplies 

The  subroutine  beginning  at  line 
4000  describes  the  sighting  of  a  river 
mouth.  Landing  offers  you  a  chance 
to  get  food  and  water,  and  to  cheer 
up  the  crew.  Sometimes  (line  4060) 
natives  appear.  As  many  early  ex- 
plorers discovered,  they  are  unpre- 
dictable. Sometimes  they  are 
friendly  and  trade  gold  for  trinkets 
(cheering  up  the  crew);  sometimes 
they  attack. 

If  they  attack,  you  must  type 
RUN  and  press  RETURN  quickly. 
The  clock  is  set  to  0  in  line  4320,  to 
time  how  fast  you  typed  in  RUN. 
After  you  press  RETURN,  the  pro- 
gram looks  at  the  clock.  If  more  than 
200  jiffies  have  passed  (line  4340), 
the  natives  attack  and  kill  you. 

The  same  timing  technique  is 
used  when  the  Arab  dhows  attack. 
The  Arabs  are  fiercely  determined 
to  protect  their  trading  routes. 
Vasco  da  Gama  himself  was  nearly 
trapped  by  them  more  than  once. 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     1 1 


Campaign 
Manager 


This  two-player  national  election 
simulation  ranks  as  one  of  the  best 
games  we've  published.  With  the 
right  strategy,  your  candidate  can 
make  it  to  the  White  House.  For  the 
Commodore  64. 


The  Democratic  delegates  are  gath- 
ered in  Moscone  Center,  wearing 
straw  hats,  carrying  balloons  and 
signs.  The  floor  fights  are  done.  The 
time  has  come  to  nominate. 

"Maryland?" 

"Mister  Chairman — the  great 
state  of  Maryland,  The  Free  State, 
Home  of  the  World  Champion  Bal- 
timore Orioles,  casts  all  of  its  votes 
for  the  senator  from  Arizona." 

The  chairman  pounds  his  gavel. 
The  din  of  cheers  and  jeers  subsides. 
The  convention  is  deadlocked.  And 
you  control  a  large  block  of  uncom- 
mitted delegates.  It's  all  up  to  you. 

The  vice  president  from  Rhode 
Island  has  good  charisma  and  intel- 
ligence, but  you  know  his  health  is 
poor.  The  reverend  from  Arkansas  is 
attractive,  but  a  bit  conservative.  Al- 
though the  senator  from  Arizona  is 
experienced,  he's  not  very  smart. 
Perhaps  the  New  Jersey  doctor?  No, 
the  Ohio  senator  has  the  best  combi- 
nation of  personality  and  issues, 
plus  you'll  get  a  home  region  advan- 
tage in  the  populous  Heartland. 

Now  it's  the  Republican's  turn. 
Of  the  five  choices,  the  woman 
from  South  Carolina  is  the  best  all- 
around  candidate.  She  has  high 
charisma  and  fundraising  appeal, 
which  translates  well  into  televi- 
sion ads. 

It's  time  to  hit  the  campaign 
trail. 


Todd  Heimarck 


The  Democratic  senator  starts 
with  $9  million  and  59  health 
points.  He  rests  two  days  (to  build 
up  his  health),  then  spends  two 
days  fundraising.  Campaign  stops 
in  Illinois  and  Texas  sway  the  vot- 
ers slightly  to  the  Democratic  side. 

The  Republican  campaigns  in 
her  home  state  of  South  Carolina. 
She  then  moves  on  to  North  Caroli- 
na, Virginia,  and  Florida,  followed 
by  a  couple  of  days  resting. 

As  the  campaign  progresses, 
the  Democrat  concentrates  on  per- 
sonal appearances  in  the  industrial 
northeast,  plus  forays  into  the  larger 
states  such  as  Texas,  California,  and 
Florida.  The  Republican  candidate 
does  less  actual  compaigning,  pre- 
ferring to  spend  more  time  on  fund- 
raising  to  pay  for  the  (expensive) 
television  ads. 

In  the  crucial  eighth  week, 
both  candidates  rest  and  fundraise 
in  prepration  for  the  last  minute 
campaigning.  The  Democrat  does  a 
media  blitz  in  the  Pacific,  Southern, 
and  Aflantic  states.  The  Republican 
hits  the  Heartland,  Arklatex,  and 
the  Urban  Northeast. 

Initial  returns  from  New  Eng- 
land show  the  Republicans  sweep- 
ing the  region,  but  the  large  states 
of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
went  Democratic.  The  Republicans 
won  most  states  from  Ohio  to  the 
Great  Plains,  but  the  Democrats 
picked  up  the  Southern  Atlantic 
states  (except  Florida).  Texas  voted 
for  the  GOP,  while  the  rest  of  the 
region  went  Democratic.  The  Rocky 
Mountain  States  were  solid  Repub- 
lican. The  Democrats  won  the  Pa- 
cific States. 

The  final  results  show  the  Re- 


publicans winning  six  of  nine  re- 
gions and  capturing  the  presidency, 
with  315  electoral  votes  to  the 
Democrats'  223.  Three  of  the  four 
biggest  states  voted  Democratic, 
but  Ohio  and  Illinois  (with  47  elec- 
toral votes  between  them)  made  the 
difference.  The  TV  ads  in  the  last 
week  moved  these  two  key  states 
into  the  Republican  camp. 


Nine-Week  Campaign 

Written  entirely  in  machine  lan- 
guage, "Campaign  Manager"  pits 
you  against  an  opponent.  Each  of 
you  manages  the  campaign  of  your 
candidate.  The  player  who  makes 
the  right  decisions  gets  his  or  her 
candidate  elected. 

You  have  nine  weeks  to  cam- 
paign. Each  week  you  plan  your 
moves  and  enter  them  via  the  menu 
on  the  itinerary.  You  have  two  de- 
fensive moves,  resting  and  fund- 
raising,  and  two  ways  to  gain  votes, 
campaigning  (personal  appear- 
ances) and  advertising  on 
television. 

At  the  beginning  of  each  turn 
you  see  a  medium-resolution  map 
of  the  U.S.  which  indicates  which 
way  each  state  is  leaning.  The  MAP 
option  allows  you  to  move  a  cursor 
around  the  country,  to  identify 
which  states  are  which.  If  the  Re- 
publicans are  ahead,  the  state  is 
red.  Democratic  states  are  cyan 
(light  blue).  If  you're  using  a  black 
and  white  television,  the  Republi- 
can states  are  the  darker  ones.  You 
may  notice  that  states  occasionally 
switch  back  and  forth,  even  though 
neither  candidate  campaigned  or 
advertised  there.  This  indicates  that 


1 2     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


the  voters  in  that  state  are  split 
down  the  middle,  and  because  of 
slight  errors  in  polling,  seem  to  be 
leaning  one  way  or  the  other. 

Since  you  only  have  63  days 
{nine  weeks  of  seven  days),  you 
have  enough  time  to  campaign  in 
each  state  once  or  twice.  But  in 
terms  of  electoral  votes,  California 
(with  47)  is  far  more  important  than 
some  of  the  smaller  (three  vote) 
states  like  North  Dakota  or  Vermont. 

Generally,  it  makes  more  sense 
to  campaign  more  heavily  in  the  ten 
biggest  states,  sometimes  called 
"megastates". 
State  Electoral  Votes 


CA 

47 

NY 

36 

TX 

29 

PA 

25 

IL 

2ft 

OH 

23 

FL 

21 

MI 

20 

NJ 

16 

NC 

13 

Winning  the  election  requires 
270  electoral  votes  {of  a  possible 
538).  The  ten  biggest  states  account 
for  254,  just  16  short  of  a  majority. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  cam- 
paign, each  state  has  a  large  pool  of 
undecided  voters.  As  the  game  pro- 
gresses, they  make  up  their  minds 
and  the  pool  diminishes.  It's  possi- 
ble, but  unlikely,  for  all  of  the 
state's  voters  to  decide  before  the 
end  of  the  campaign.  You  would 
have  to  go  to  the  state  at  least  eight 
times  before  the  undecided  points 
were  used  up. 

Each  state  has  a  built-in  bias 
toward  one  party,  based  on  past 
elections  for  president,  senator, 
governor,  etc.  The  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, for  example,  is  staunchly 
Democratic,  so  the  Democratic  can- 
didate will  automatically  get  seven 
campaign  points  there,  compared 
to  a  Republican's  two. 

Since  the  Republicans  have 
won  three  of  the  last  four  elections 
(including  a  landslide  victory  in 
1972),  you  might  expect  them  to 
begin  the  game  with  a  huge  advan- 
tage. But  if  you  look  at  non-presi- 
dential elections,  you  will  find  a  lot 
of  states  that  elect  Democratic  gov- 
ernors, senators,  and  representa- 
tives and  then  vote  for  a  Republican 
president.  And  a  lot  of  those  basi- 
cally Democratic  states  were  split 
by  third-party  campaigns  (Wallace 


in  '68,  Anderson  in  '80). 

To  even  things  up,  and  make 
the  game  more  playable,  the  Demo- 
crats begin  with  an  electoral  vote 
advantage  of  282  to  256,  although 
four  of  the  megastates  (PA,  OH,  FL, 
and  NC)  are  barely  leaning  to  the 
Democratic  side.  The  Republicans 
have  the  advantage  of  beginning 
with  29  of  the  51  states  (since  DC 
has  three  electoral  votes,  it  counts 
as  a  state).  Most  of  the  states  west  of 
the  Mississippi  are  Republican,  while 
the  Democrats  have  most  of  the 
industrial  Northeast  and  the  South. 

In  addition  to  the  natural  polit- 
ical leanings,  each  state  believes 
certain  things  about  five  general 
issues: 

1)  unemployment/inflation, 

2)  poverty /crime, 

3)  agriculture, 

4)  education,  and 

5)  defense. 

(The  issues  are  based  on  cen- 
sus reports,  almanacs,  etc.)  A  very 
urban  state  might  be  conservative 
on  crime,  but  not  care  much  about 
agriculture,  for  example.  Each  can- 
didate has  certain  stands  on  these 
issues.  When  you  campaign  or  ad- 
vertise in  a  state,  you  can  get  up  to 
three  extra  campaign  points  for 
each  issue,  if  you  agree  with  the 
citizens  there. 

Finally,  the  candidate  you 
choose  has  a  campaign  effective- 
ness rating  based  on  charisma  and 
intelligence.  This  factor  translates 
to  votes  each  time  you  campaign  in 
a  state. 

To  start  the  game,  choose 
which  party  will  go  first.  You  might 
want  to  flip  a  coin,  the  winner 
choosing  either  a  party  or  to  go  first 
or  second.  In  testing,  we  found  that 
the  second  player  has  the  very 
slight  advantage  of  making  the  last 
move.  Next,  decide  if  one  of  you 
will  start  out  as  the  campaign  man- 
ager for  the  president  running  for  a 
second  term.  Being  incumbent 
gives  you  some  extra  campaigning 
strength,  and  is  not  recommended 
if  you  want  an  even  game. 

Note  that  all  choices  can  be 
made  with  a  joystick  in  either  port. 
Move  the  pointer  to  a  menu  item 
and  press  the  fire  button  twice  to 
make  your  choice.  If  you  don't  own 
a  joystick,  use  I,  J,  K,  and  L  for  up, 
left,  down,  and  right  respectively. 


Press  M  in  place  of  the  fire  button. 

Players  then  pick  which  candi- 
date will  represent  their  party.  Five 
randomly  chosen  candidates  are 
available.  To  the  right  of  the  candi- 
date's stats  is  the  YES/NO  counter. 
Before  making  your  choice,  pick 
NO  for  each  possibility  until  you 
have  seen  all  five.  They  will  cycle 
around  again  so  you  can  make  your 
choice. 

The  heart  of  the  game  is  the 
actual  campaign,  but  in  some  ways 
the  convention  is  more  important. 
Nominate  a  terrible  candidate  and 
you'll  spend  most  of  your  campaign 
trying  to  catch  up. 

A  candidate's  personality 
greatly  affects  the  outcome  of  the 
election.  In  the  lower  left  corner 
you'll  see  a  list  of  five  attributes, 
each  associated  with  a  number 
from  one  (worst)  to  eight  (best). 
With  a  couple  of  exceptions,  the 
ideal  candidate  is  the  one  with 
straight  eights. 

First  is  charisma  (CHAR), 
which  is  personal  magnetism,  pa- 
nache, the  ability  to  influence  and 
excite  people.  This  is  the  most  im- 
portant personality  trait  because  it 
is  part  of  both  campaign  effective- 
ness and  advertising  effectiveness. 

Stamina  (STAM)  rates  your 
candidate's  health.  A  candidate 
with  low  stamina  will  have  to  rest 
frequently  to  regain  health  and 
strength. 

Intelligence  (INTL)  adds  points 
to  campaign  effectiveness  and  last 
minute  campaigning. 

Experience  (EXPR)  helps  you 
with  fundraising.  If  your  candidate 
has  lots  of  experience,  he  or  she  has 
more  contacts  and  connections  for 
raising  money.  Since  experience 
comes  with  age,  it  counts  against 
your  health,  although  stamina 
counts  for  more  health  points. 

Appeal  (APPL)  also  contrib- 
utes to  fundraising  appeals.  But  if 
you  have  maximum  appeal  (eight) 
you  may  be  tainted  by  your  affili- 
ations with  special  interest  groups, 
and  there  is  a  backlash  when  you 
advertise.  It's  best  to  have  an  ap- 
peal of  six  or  seven. 

The  candidates'  attributes  are 
generated  by  adding  three  random 
numbers,  so  candidates  are  more 
likely  to  have  a  middle  number 
(four  or  five)  than  one  of  the 
extremes. 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     13 


The  personality  traits  translate 
into  these  five  campaign  factors; 

Campaign    Effectiveness 

(CHAR*2  +  INTL):  the  key  factor 
in  campaign  stops. 

Strength/Health  (STAM*4  + 
9  -  EXPR):  determines  the  effec- 
tiveness of  a  rest  day. 

Fundraising  Appeal  (EXPR*3 
+  APPL):  determines  hov^f  much 
money  can  be  raised  in  a  day. 

TV  Ads  (APPL  OR  8  + 
CHAR):  translates  into  votes  when 
advertising. 

Last  Minute  Campaigning 
(INTL  +  STAM):  wins  last-minute 
votes  to  your  side  after  the  ninth 
week. 

The  significance  of  each  factor 
is  discussed  later. 


Campaign  Issues 

Next  to  the  personality  factors  are 
the  candidate's  stands  on  various 
issues.  You  see  five  issues,  each 
with  a  sliding  scale  of  one  (at  the  far 
left,  representing  liberal)  to  six 
(conservative).  A  Republican  who 
wants  to  get  tough  on  crime,  for 
example,  will  have  a  rank  of  six.  A 
Democrat  who  wants  to  solve  the 
unemployment  problem  will  have  a 
rating  of  one. 

Candidates  will  range  from 
two  to  five  on  the  issues  of  agricul- 
ture and  education.  On  the  other 
three  issues,  the  Democrats  will 
have  stands  from  one  to  four;  the 
Republicans  will  go  from  three  to 
six. 

You  will  generally  get  more 
votes  with  middle  of  the  road  be- 
liefs. Look  for  a  candidate  with 
twos  or  threes  if  you're  the  Demo- 
crat. Fours  and  fives  are  best  for  the 
Republican.  The  exception  is  agri- 
culture and  education,  where  you 
do  best  with  a  three  or  a  four. 

Common  sense  tells  you  which 
issues  are  important  in  most  states. 
Agriculture  is  a  major  issue  in  the 
farming  states.  Your  stand  on  de- 
fense makes  a  difference  in  states 
with  a  lot  of  military-related 
industry. 

The  candidate's  personality  is 
generally  more  crucial  than  the 
stands  on  issues.  If  you  have  a  lot  of 
charisma,  intelligence,  and  appeal, 
it  doesn't  matter  that  you  may  have 


radical  views  on  one  or  two  issues. 

If  you  have  five  very  bad  can- 
didates, press  RUN/STOP-RE- 
STORE and  try  again.  It's  not  much 
fun  to  run  a  campaign  you  are  des- 
tined to  lose. 

After  the  nominees  have  been 
chosen,  the  first  week  begins.  You 
may  notice  that  some  states  have 
changed  colors.  That's  because  each 
nominee  gets  the  equivalent  of  cam- 
paigning once  in  each  state.  Some 
people  make  up  their  minds  before 
the  campaign  even  starts.  If  one  can- 
didate is  much  more  charismatic,  or 
happens  to  hit  the  right  issues,  a 
state  may  jump  over  to  his  or  her 
side.  In  addition,  each  gets  a  home 
state  and  home  region  advantage. 

You  should  develop  a  strategy. 
If  your  appeal  and  charisma  are 
strong,  concentrate  on  television 
ads.  If  your  candidate  has  a  strong 
anti-crime  stance,  visit  the  more  ur- 
ban states.  At  the  very  least,  you 
should  plan  to  visit  each  of  the 
megastates. 

You  begin  in  your  home  state 
where  it  is  traditional  to  campaign 
once  (but  not  twice).  And  the  first 
week  usually  means  some  fundrais- 
ing and  resting  as  purely  defensive 
moves. 

Under  the  week's  itinerary  are 
two  numbers  representing  money 
and  health.  At  the  beginning  of 
each  week,  your  treasurer  tells  you 
how  much  money  you  have,  up  to  a 
maximum  of  $25  million.  Your  per- 
sonal physician  figures  out  how 
healthy  you  are.  At  most  you'll 
have  255  health  points. 

If  you  fall  below  $4  million  any 
time  during  the  week,  television 
advertising  will  be  useless  until  you 
replenish  the  campaign  coffers.  If 
you  have  less  than  one  million,  you 
won't  be  able  to  pay  the  pollster 
(the  bar  graph  to  the  left  of  the  map 
will  disappear).  When  your  bank 
account  falls  to  zero,  the  campaign 
is  paralyzed  until  you  sponsor  a 
fundraiser.  You  can't  even  afford  to 
pay  your  doctor  or  staff. 

It  takes  time  away  from  cam- 
paigning, but  you  have  to  raise 
money  once  in  a  while.  Each  fund- 
raising  point  (experience  times 
three  plus  appeal)  is  worth 
$200,000. 

Campaigning  takes  a  lot  out  of 
you,  so  you  have  to  occasionally 


take  a  day  to  rest  and  relax.  When 
you  decide  to  catch  some  Zs,  the 
itinerary  will  be  filled  with  (you 
guessed  it)  Zs.  Each  day  of  rest  adds 
double  your  strength  factor,  plus 
campaign  effectiveness,  plus  the 
number  of  states  you  are  winning  to 
the  health  you  have.  A  high  cam- 
paign effectiveness  gives  you  opti- 
mism; you  rest  better.  If  you're 
behind,  you  lose  sleep  worrying 
about  it.  Resting  two  days  in  a  row 
gets  you  16  extra  health  points. 

There  are  two  reasons  to  keep 
your  health  up.  First,  when  you 
campaign  in  a  state,  you  get  an 
extra  campaign  point  for  every  32 
health  points  you  possess.  Second, 
if  your  health  falls  below  eight  you 
look  haggard  and  stutter;  cam- 
paigning does  you  no  good. 

The  treasurer  counts  dollars, 
the  doctor  counts  your  health,  and 
your  pollster  counts  votes. 

The  pollster  does  three  things. 
First,  you  get  a  bar  chart  that  shows 
how  many  electoral  votes  would  go 
to  the  Democrats  and  Republicans 
if  the  election  were  held  at  that 
time.  You  can  see  it  to  the  left  of  the 
map.  The  gray  bar  marked  U  repre- 
sents undecided  states  too  close  to 
call.  Second  you  have  a  map  of  the 
U.S.  to  show  you,  at  a  glance, 
which  way  each  state  is  leaning. 
Republican  states  are  red;  Demo- 
cratic states  are  blue.  These  first  two 
services  are  part  of  the  pollster's 
contract,  and  cost  you  nothing.  Of 
course,  if  your  money  drops  lower 
than  one  million,  you  have  to  stop 
paying  the  pollster;  all  you  get  is 
the  map. 

The  third  service  is  the  most 
important — regional  polls.  To  get  a 
poll  of  all  states  in  a  region,  move  to 
POLL  on  the  main  menu  and  press 
the  fire  button  twice.  You'll  see  a 
bar  chart  showing  which  way  each 
state  in  the  region  is  leaning,  from 
one  (half  a  character  wide)  to  four 
(two  characters).  The  poll  reflects 
the  political  situation  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  week;  whatever  cam- 
paigning you  have  planned  for  the 
week  is  not  included.  A  state  with  a 
thin  bar  can  usually  be  taken  with  a 
single  campaign  stop. 

Don't  use  polls  in  the  first  cou- 
ple of  weeks  because  most  states 
start  out  fairly  even  and  you  won't 
learn  much.  But  polling  can  be  a 
powerful  tool  towards  the  end  of 


14    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


the  game.  If  New  York  is  firmly 
committed  to  you,  forget  about  fur- 
ther efforts  in  that  state.  And  if  you 
find  a  whole  region  weakly  sup- 
porting your  opponent,  you  can  hit 
them  with  TV  ads  and  score  a  few 
dozen  electoral  votes. 

Regional  polls  cost  $100,000 
and  are  not  available  if  you  begin 
the  week  with  less  than  $1  million. 

The  final  character  (although 
transparent)  in  your  entourage  is 
the  jet  pilot.  Your  jet  can  carry  you 
on  short  hops  within  a  region  for 
almost  nothing.  But  if  you  travel  to 
a  new  region,  you  shell  out 
$100,000  for  fuel,  maintenance,  etc. 
As  long  as  you're  in  a  region,  you 
might  as  well  stay  there  a  few  days 
to  avoid  a  lot  of  travel  expenses. 
Again,  you  don't  actually  move  to  a 
new  region  until  you  have  cam- 
paigned in  one  of  the  states.  You 
can  use  the  travel  option  to  conduct 
regional  polls;  you'll  pay  $100,000 
for  the  poll,  and  another  $100,000  if 
you  decide  to  campaign  in  a  region. 
If  you  travel  to  a  region  to  poll  and 
decide  not  to  campaign,  you  won't 
be  charged  for  traveling. 

Benjamin  Franklin  once  said 
that  after  three  days,  guests  and  fish 
begin  to  smell.  The  same  principle 
applies  to  campaigning. 

Campaign  once  and  you  gain 
some  votes.  Stay  for  a  second  day 
and  the  voters  of  a  state  are  flat- 
tered; you  gain  a  couple  of  bonus 
votes.  But  stick  around  for  a  third  or 
fourth  day  and  you  have  over- 
stayed your  welcome.  Do  not  cam- 
paign in  a  state  more  than  two  days 
in  a  row. 


Voter  Points 

Each  state  begins  with  255  undecid- 
ed voter  points.  Your  main  goal  is  to 
use  campaigning  and  television  ad- 
vertising to  sway  the  undecided. 
And  you  have  to  maintain  your 
health  and  money. 

The  effects  of  a  personal  ap- 
pearance can  vary.  You  get  up  to 
three  points  for  each  issue  (if  the 
state  agrees  with  you),  one  point  for 
every  32  health  points,  and  up  to  24 
for  your  campaign  effectiveness  {in- 
telligence plus  double  charisma), 
and  a  two  point  bonus  if  it's  your 
second  day  in  the  state. 

If  your  money  is  down  to  zero, 
you  get  no  campaign  points.  If  your 


health  is  below  eight,  you  get  a 
single  vote. 

Each  campaign  stop  decreases 
your  health  and  money.  It's  possi- 
ble to  run  out  in  the  middle  of  the 
week,  making  each  succeeding  visit 
ineffective  until  you  rest  or  raise 
money.  Let's  say  you  go  to  Con- 
necticut and  impress  23  of  the  255 
undecideds.  The  pool  of  available 
voters  is  reduced  by  that  number. 
Half  of  23  (11  points)  is  charged 
against  your  health.  Half  again  (5 
points)  times  $  1 00,000  is  subtracted 
from  your  money.  In  addition,  each 
state  has  some  people  who  don't 
agree  with  you,  so  a  quarter  of  your 
total  (five  points)  goes  to  your  op- 
ponent as  a  reaction  against  your 
speech.  If  you  had  previously  been 
in  a  different  region,  travel  ex- 
penses of  $100,000  are  subtracted. 

Television  advertising  is  a  little 
different.  It  affects  every  state  in  the 
region,  and  quickly  swings  voters  to 
your  side.  To  advertise,  first  travel 
to  the  region  and  make  at  least  one 
campaign  stop  to  establish  your 
presence.  You  can  then  place  the 
cursor  on  TV  ADS  and  press  the  fire 
button  twice.  After  campaigning 
once,  advertise  as  much  as  you  like. 

Unlike  resting  and  campaign- 
ing, the  effects  of  advertising  do  not 
accumulate  from  day  to  day.  If  you 
advertise  two  days  in  a  row,  you 
don't  get  bonus  points.  Advertising 
does  grow  in  strength  from  week  to 
week,  however,  and  will  be  more 
effective  towards  the  end  of  the 
campaign. 

If  you  flood  the  region  with 
ads,  it's  possible  to  bring  a  whole 
section  of  the  country  to  your  side. 
But  it  is  costly.  In  each  state,  adver- 
tising credits  you  with  half  your 
campaign  effectiveness,  half  your 
TV  ads  effectiveness  rating,  points 
for  issues,  plus  two  times  the  week 
number  (in  week  seven,  for  ex- 
ample, you  get  14  extra  campaign 
points). 

The  cost  is  the  usual  one- 
fourth  of  campaign  points  gained, 
plus  double  the  TV  ads'  effective- 
ness. The  large  regions  can  cost  a 
lot.  Going  on  TV  in  the  Atlantic 
States  (all  nine)  or  in  the  rocky 
Mountains  (eight)  can  deplete  your 
treasury. 

On  the  day  you  plan  to  adver- 
tise, you  must  have  at  least  four 
million  dollars.  If  you  don't,  you 


waste  the  day  and  gather  no  new 
votes.  So,  if  you  begin  the  week 
with  $5  million,  and  campaign  in 
six  states,  it's  Hkely  you'll  have  less 
than  $4  million  by  Saturday.  Your 
ad  campaign  will  do  you  no  good. 
There  is  one  more  item  you  can 
choose:  RECONSIDER.  If  you  make 
a  mistake,  this  option  wipes  your 
itinerary  clean  so  you  can  start  the 
week  anew.  Your  choices  are  not 
permanent  until  you  fill  out  the 
seventh  day  and  press  the  fire  but- 
ton. (If  you  pull  down  on  the  joy- 
stick, your  slate  will  be  wiped 
clean — a  quicker  way  to  reconsider.) 


Last-Ditch  Efforts 

The  ninth  week  is  usually  the  most 
hectic.  If  you  sponsored  some  fund- 
raisers in  week  eight,  you  will  want 
to  spend  a  lot  on  TV  advertising  in 
the  regions  where  you  have  a 
chance.  Polls  can  tell  you  which 
states  are  most  vulnerable. 

After  both  candidates  have  fin- 
ished their  last  week  of  campaign- 
ing, a  couple  of  things  happen.  The 
last  region  to  be  visited  by  a  candi- 
date gives  a  few  extra  votes  to  him 
or  her.  And  the  last-week  routine 
goes  into  action,  as  all  the  undecid- 
ed voters  make  up  their  minds. 
Each  candidate  gets  his  or  her  last- 
minute  campaigning  points  (intelli- 
gence plus  stamina)  added  to  each 
state  in  the  country.  The  undecided 
voters  are  split  between  the  candi- 
dates and  ties  are  resolved  (based 
on  the  built-in  bias  to  one  party  or 
the  other). 

The  map  is  drawn  for  the  final 
time.  The  final  bar  chart  appears  to 
the  left  (which  should  indicate  at  a 
glance  which  candidate  won).  Be- 
ginning with  region  one  (New  Eng- 
land), the  electoral  votes  are 
displayed,  with  region  totals  below. 

The  winner  is  the  candidate 
with  the  most  electoral  votes.  There 
is  a  slight  chance  that  there  will  be  a 
tie,  in  which  case  you'd  have  to  flip 
a  coin.  If  you  want  to  play  again, 
press  RUN/STOP-RESTORE  and 
type  RUN. 

Here  are  a  few  rules  of  etti- 
quette  which  help  to  make  a  fairer 
game. 

First,  if  you're  playing  with 
two  joysticks,  try  to  avoid  interfer- 
ing with  your  opponent's  choices. 
Remember,  the  joystick  routine 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     15 


reads  both  joysticks. 

Second,  when  you  have  filled 
out  your  itinerary  and  the  prompt 
PRESS  FIRE  BUTTON  TO  CON- 
TINUE appears,  let  your  opponent 
study  what  moves  you  made,  and 
he  or  she  can  then  press  the  fire 
button. 

Third,  since  polls  cost  money, 
they  should  be  kept  private.  When 
the  other  player  is  taking  a  poll, 
avoid  looking  at  the  screen. 


Main  Menu 
Command  Summary 

CAMPAIGN — allows  you  to  make 
a  personal  appearance  in  one  of  the 
states  of  the  region  you're  visiting. 
Results  depend  on  campaign  effec- 
tiveness, built-in  party  bias  of  the 
state,  health,  and  issues.  Does  not 
work  if  you  have  zero  health  or 
money,  or  if  all  undecided  voters 
have  been  claimed.  Gains  votes, 
costs  health  and  money. 

TV  ADS — blankets  the  region 
with  advertising.  Reduces  health 
and  costs  a  lot  of  money,  but  can 
quickly  deliver  a  big  chunk  of  votes. 
Net  votes  based  on  TV  advertising 
effectiveness,  campaign  effective- 
ness, and  issues.  Does  not  work  if 
you  have  less  than  $4  million. 

FUNDRAISE — raises  money 
for  your  campaign  based  on  fund- 
raising  ability.  Takes  a  day,  gains 
no  votes,  costs  nothing. 

REST — builds  up  your  health 
points,  according  to  strength  factor. 
Extra  points  if  you  rest  two  days  in 
a  row.  Gains  no  new  votes,  costs 
nothing. 

MAP  —  moves  the  cursor 
around  the  map,  prints  the  state 
name,  electoral  votes,  and  region 
number.  For  information  only, 
costs  nothing. 

POLL — provides  a  bar  graph 
showing  which  way  the  states  in 
the  region  are  leaning.  Costs 
$100,000  (immediately).  Not  avail- 
able if  money  falls  below  $1 
million. 

RECONSIDER— erases  the 
week's  itinerary  if  you  make  a 
mistake. 

TRAVEL — takes  you  to  a  new 
region  of  the  country.  Costs 
$100,000  (not  charged  to  you  until 
you  actually  campaign  there).      ® 


Pool 


Joseph  T.  V\/oyton 
Version  by  Kevin  Mykytyn 


Chalk  up  your  cue  stick  and  sharpen 
your  skills  with  this  exciting  simula- 
tion of  pocket  billiards.  For  one  or  two 

players. 


The  rules  of  "Pool"  are  simple — 
you  try  to  sink  the  billiard  balls  on 
the  table  by  aiming  and  shooting 
the  white  cue  ball. 

To  play  Pool,  load  it  from  disk 
using  a  secondary  address  of  1: 
LOAD  "POOL",8,l.  SYS  49152 
starts  the  program. 

The  title  screen  comes  up  first, 
with  a  ragtime  melody  playing  in 
the  background.  You  choose  a  one- 
or  two-player  game.  The  screen 
clears  and  the  pool  table  appears. 

At  the  start  of  the  game,  the 
white  cue  ball  is  at  one  end  of  the 
table  and  six  balls  are  arranged  at 
the  other  end.  There  are  six  (rather 
than  15)  because  only  eight  sprites 
are  available  on  the  64.  Using  the 
joystick,  position  the  cue  ball  in  the 
"kitchen,"  behind  the  scratch  line. 
When  you're  ready  to  shoot,  press 
the  joystick  button  once.  A  cross- 
hair appears  on  top  of  the  cue  ball. 

Move  the  crosshair  in  the  di- 
rection you  want  to  shoot.  Pressing 
the  joystick  button  starts  the  cue 
ball  rolling. 

The  distance  between  the  cue 
ball  and  crosshair  determines  the 
strength  of  the  shot.  The  farther 
away,  the  harder  the  shot.  There  is 


a  limit  on  how  far  you  can  move  the 
crosshair  (approximately  two- 
thirds  the  length  of  the  table).  On 
the  initial  break,  you'll  probably 
want  to  shoot  hard.  On  later  turns, 
the  strength  of  the  shot  will  deter- 
mine how  far  the  cue  ball  travels 
after  a  collision.  Strategic  soft  shots 
can  help  you  set  up  the  table  for  the 
next  shot. 

The  goal  in  the  one  player 
game  is  to  clear  the  table  in  the 
fewest  number  of  shots  (the  record 
here  at  COMPUTE!  Publications  is 
eight).  When  all  balls  are  in  the 
pockets,  you're  ranked  according  to 
your  ability,  from  Pro  (the  best)  to 
Pool  Shark,  Amateur,  and  Novice. 

In  the  two-player  game,  you 
try  to  outshoot  your  opponent. 
When  you  sink  a  ball,  it's  placed  on 
your  side  of  the  screen.  With  six 
balls  in  play,  tie  games  are  possible. 

A  scratch  occurs  when  you 
knock  the  cue  ball  into  a  pocket,  or 
when  the  cue  ball  doesn't  hit  any- 
thing before  coming  to  a  stop.  You 
lose  your  turn,  one  of  the  balls  to 
your  credit  is  put  back  on  the  table, 
and  the  cue  ball  is  placed  in  the 
starting  position.  Your  opponent 
can  then  put  the  cue  ball  anywhere 
behind  the  scratch  line. 

Pool  does  not  completely  follow 
the  laws  of  physics,  although  it  offers 
a  realistic  simulation.  The  sprites  are 
moved  pixel  by  pixel,  but  the  move- 
ment is  calculated  in  256ths  of  a  pixel 
for  inaeased  accuracy.  ® 


16    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Bingo  64 

Richard  L.  Witkover 


"Bingo  64"  is  a  cleverly  written  com- 
puter version  of  the  classic  game.  It 
makes  good  use  of  the  64's  graphics 
and  sound  capabilities  to  provide  you 
and  three  friends  with  many  exciting 
games  of  bingo.  A  joystick  is  required. 


Few  people  have  not  known  the 
anticipation,  heard  the  click  of  the 
balls,  the  call  of  the  number,  and 
finally,  the  excited  shout  of  "Bin- 
go!" Here's  a  four-player  version  of 
this  world-famous  game  written  for 
the  Commodore  64. 

Setting  Up  The  Game 

Before  you  begin  playing,  you  have 
to  choose  your  mode  of  play  from  a 
menu.  Manual  ball  feed  allows  you 
to  control  the  pace  of  the  game,  if 
you  opt  for  auto  ball  feed,  the  com- 
puter automatically  picks  the  next 
number.  Choose  manual  cover  if 
you  want  to  cover  the  spots  on  your 
card  yourself  (using  the  joystick).  If 
you  want  your  64  to  cover  the 
spots,  pick  auto  cover. 

After  you  make  your  choices, 
four  blank  cards  are  displayed  on 
the  screen.  Each  column  on  a  card 
corresponds  to  one  letter  of  the 
word  BINGO.  The  five  numbers  in 
each  column  are  selected  from  15 
possible  values  and  are  checked  to 
prevent  duplication.  This  process  is 
repeated  for  all  four  cards.  The  se- 
lected numbers  are  displayed  on 
the  cards  and  stored  in  the  three- 
dimensional  array  C%.  A  cover 
token  is  then  placed  over  the  free 
box  in  the  center,  giving  it  the  status 
of  a  called  number. 

Ready  To  Play 

The  cards  are  on  the  screen,  and 
you  are  ready  to  begin  playing.  At 
the  bottom  of  the  screen  are  five 
balls  (sprites),  each  labeled  with  a 
letter  in  the  word  BINGO. 

Numbers  are  selected  through 


a  random  graphics  routine.  The  let- 
tered balls  jump  up  and  down  like 
kernels  of  popcorn.  The  height  a 
ball  reaches  is  random.  If  it  jumps 
above  a  line  on  the  screen,  it  is 
selected.  If  not,  it  falls  back  with  a 
plop,  and  another  ball  is  given  a 
chance. 

After  the  column  letter  has 
been  selected,  a  random  number  is 
chosen.  To  prevent  duplication,  all 
called  numbers  are  entered  in  the 
two-dimensional  array  N%.  The 
newly  selected  number  is  compared 
to  the  numbers  in  the  array.  If  a 
match  occurs,  the  number  is  dis- 
carded and  another  one  generated. 
When  a  unique  number  is  found,  it 
is  printed  on  the  enlarged  sprite  in 
the  middle  of  the  screen,  along  with 
its  letter. 

Checicing  For  A  Match 

Next,  each  number  in  the  appropri- 
ate column  on  each  card  is  checked 
for  a  match.  A  chime  sound  signi- 
fies a  match.  If  the  number  doesn't 
appear  on  any  of  the  four  cards,  a 
sour  bong  sounds. 

If  you  selected  auto  cover,  the 
computer  covers  a  matched  number 
by  printing  it  as  a  red  reversed  char- 
acter. If  you  chose  manual  cover, 
you  must  use  the  joystick  to  position 
the  marker  and  press  the  fire  button 
to  cover  your  number.  If  you  make  a 
mistake,  you  lose  the  number. 

When  a  number  is  covered,  the 
program  checks  the  row,  column, 
and  diagonal  for  a  bingo.  Since  the 
covered  numbers  have  been  print- 
ed in  reversed  character  mode,  this 
is  easily  done  from  screen  memory. 
The  program  needs  to  check  the 
five  boxes  to  see  if  they  all  contain 
reversed  characters  (screen  codes 
greater  than  127).  If  a  winner  is 
found,  the  covers  change  color  and 
music  plays.  Each  card  is  checked 
for  the  possibility  of  multiple 
winners. 


One  Machine 
Language  Routine 

The  first  DATA  line  contains  a 
short  machine  language  routine 
which  initializes  screen  color  and 
sprite  memory  locations.  The  re- 
maining DATA  statements  set  up 
sprite  data  and  music.  The  program 
contains  extensive  REMarks  to 
make  the  logic  flow  easier  to  follow, 
and  the  variable  names  are  listed 
below,  with  their  functions. 


Variable         Function 

Al-4  Parameters  of  pattern  for 

winner  scan 
AU  Mode  flag  for  ball  feed  and 

cover 
BO  Bingo  flag 

B0,1  Digits  under  joystick  cursor 

Ck  Card  numbers  array 

CC,CM  Joystick  cursor  position 

CD  Card  number 

CL  Column  number 

CO%  Ball  color  array 

DU%  Duration  of  notes  array 

FB  Fire  button  switch 

FH%,FL%       Music  frequency  high  and 

low  bytes 
FR  Joystick  row  number 

HB  High  byte  of  screen  color 

memory 
JO-3  Joystick  direction  switches 

L  Ball  letter  array 

LN  Length  of  ball  number  string 

N%  Called  number  array 

NC  Ball  color  index 

NM  Called  number 

NN  No-Number  match  flag 

NU  Value  of  called  number  with- 

in column  (1-15) 
Nl,2  Digits  of  called  number 

OB  Reversed  number  flag  (logical 

variable) 
PD  Joystick  memory  register 

contents 
PI  Screen  memory  location  of 

Nl 
RN  Row  number  on  card 

S  Start  of  screen  memory  for 

cards 
SD%  Sprite  data  array 

SN  Screen  memory  location  of 

box  digit 
SS  Sound  chip  memory  location; 

also,  screen -to-color  memory 

offset 

V  Video  chip  memory  location 
W1,WJ  Indices  of  box  to  be  checked 

for  winner 
WM  Memory  location  of  box  to  be 

checked  for  winner 
SP  Contents  of  WM 

X  Ball  X-position  array 

Y  Ball  Y-position  array 
YM  Maximum  ball  height 

Z  Present  box  numh>er  value    Q 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     17 


This  intriguing  game  challenges  your 
problem-solving  abilities.  A  crime  has 
been  committed,  and  you  must  ques- 
tion suspects  to  discover  who's  re- 
sponsible. What  makes  things  difficult 
is  that  one  of  the  suspects  has  prob- 
lems telling  the  truth.  And  what  gives 
the  game  added  appeal  is  that  it's 
different  every  time  you  play. 


When  you  were  invited  to  a  small 
dinner  party  at  Lord  Crumbly's  se- 
cluded mansion,  you  never  thought 
you'd  be  accused  of  murder.  In  ad- 
dition to  yourself,  there  were  three 
other  guests  and  two  servants.  You 
knew  his  lordship  was  not  a  well- 
liked  man,  but  you  were  certainly 
not  expecting  murder. 

Late  that  evening,  while  you 
were  alone  in  the  library,  a  shot 
broke  the  silence.  You  rushed  to  the 
room  of  Lord  Crumbly  and  discov- 
ered his  lifeless  body.  A  moment 
later,  the  others  arrived  to  see  you 
bending  over  the  dead  man.  The 
police  were  summoned,  but  have 
not  yet  arrived.  As  the  prime  sus- 
pect, you  must  quickly  discover  the 
murderer  or  risk  being  accused  of 
the  crime. 

The  murder  can  be  solved  by 
questioning  the  suspects  and  keep- 
ing track  of  who  said  what  about 
whom.  But,  to  complicate  matters, 
you  know  that  one  of  them  is  a 
compulsive  liar. 

Sifting  Through 
The  Evidence 

Three  questions  must  be  answered 
affirmatively  before  you  make  an 
accusation.  First,  did  the  suspect 
have  a  motive — a  reason  to  dislike 
Lord  Crumbly?  Second,  did  the  sus- 
pect have  access  to  a  gun?  Third, 
where  was  he  or  she  when  the  shot 
was  fired — with  someone  else,  near 
Crumbly's  room,  or  somewhere 
unknown? 


Sleuth 

Paul  D.  Farquhor 
Version  by  Kevin  Mykytyn 


Your  task  is  to  narrow  down 
the  list  of  suspects  until  you  find 
someone  who  had  a  motive,  a 
weapon,  and  an  opportunity.  Obvi- 
ously, if  Professor  Bard  had  no  gun, 
he  must  be  innocent.  You  may  find 
more  than  one  person  who  had  mo- 
tive or  opportunity,  but  only  one 
will  fit  all  three  categories. 

Four  of  the  five  will  always  tell 
the  truth,  while  one  will  always  fib. 
The  liar  is  not  necessarily  the  mur- 
derer, although  it  is  possible.  How 
do  you  distinguish  between  the 
true  and  false  statements? 

At  first,  you  don't  know  who's 
trustworthy,  so  don't  believe  any- 
one. Just  write  down  what  they  say 
on  the  program's  a  four-page  note- 
book. You  can  look  at  your  note- 
book by  pressing  one  of  the  function 
keys.  The  fl  key  is  the  first  page,  f3 
is  the  second,  f5  is  page  3,  and  (7 
page  4.  You  may  find  it  convenient 
to  split  up  motive,  weapon,  and  op- 
portunity on  the  first  three  pages 
and  use  the  fourth  for  your  conclu- 
sions. After  selecting  a  page,  type  in 
the  message  you  want.  You  can  also 
flip  between  the  pages  of  the  note- 
book by  pressing  the  other  function 
keys.  To  get  back  to  the  game,  press 
the  back  arrow  {the  upper-left  char- 
acter on  the  keyboard). 

When  someone  says  some- 
thing, write  it  down  on  one  of  the 
first  three  sheets.  For  example,  if 
Snipe  says  Larue  was  being  black- 
mailed by  Lord  Crumbly,  write  it 
under  Mofive.  If  Bard  says  Chauncy 
was  with  someone  when  the  shots 
were  fired,  write  it  under  Opportu- 
nity (Bard  says  Chauncy  had  no 
opportunity). 

Paring  Down  The  List 
Of  Suspects 

Who's  telling  the  truth? 

If  Snipe  tells  you  that  Whig- 
gins  did  not  have  a  gun,  and  Larue 
says  the  same  thing,  you  can  con- 


clude that  both  Snipe  and  Larue  are 
truth  tellers.  Since  there's  only  one 
liar,  if  Snipe  or  Larue  was  a  liar,  the 
other  would  have  to  be  telling  the 
truth,  and  they  would  say  opposite 
things.  But  they  said  the  same 
thing,  so  they  must  both  be  telling 
the  truth.  Once  you  know  they're 
OK,  you  know  everything  they 
have  said  (and  everything  they  may 
say  in  the  future)  will  be  correct. 

By  similar  logic,  if  two  suspects 
say  contradictory  things,  you  know 
one  of  them  is  lying.  Bard  says  Snipe 
hated  Lord  Crumbly  (a  motive),  but 
Chauncy  says  Snipe  had  no  motive. 
Either  Chauncy  or  Bard  is  not  telling 
the  truth,  and  since  there's  only  one 
liar,  Whiggins,  Larue,  and  Snipe 
must  all  be  truth  tellers. 

As  you  collect  your  data,  look 
for  someone  who  had  motive, 
weapon,  and  opportunity.  As  soon 
as  you  find  a  suspect  with  all  three, 
you  can  solve  the  case.  Another 
way  to  nail  the  murderer  is  to  rule 
out  four  suspects.  For  example,  if 
Whiggins  had  no  gun.  Snipe  no 
motive,  Chauncy  no  motive,  and 
Bard  no  opportunity,  then  that 
leaves  a  single  possibility:  Larue. 

After  uncovering  the  answer  to 
the  mystery,  you'll  see  how  many 
clues  you  were  given  (you  can 
usually  finish  with  about  ten  clues). 
You'll  then  be  asked  if  you  want  to 
play  again. 

Page  Flipping 

The  electronic  notebook  is  created 
using  page  flipping,  which  means 
relocating  the  screen  display  to  a 
different  section  of  memory.  This 
technique  is  often  used  for  anima- 
tion on  the  Apple  and  Atari.  While 
one  screen  is  displayed,  the  com- 
puter draws  the  next  picture  on  an 
alternate  (invisible)  screen.  Then,  a 
few  POKEs  cause  the  screen  to 
change  to  the  next  frame.  You  don't 
need  to  know  how  it  works  to  play 


1 8     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Sleuth,  but  if  you'd  like  to  use  page 
flipping  in  your  own  programs, 
here's  a  brief  explanation. 

Location  53272  controls  several 
things,  including  the  video  matrix 
base  address  (where,  the  screen 
starts,  in  plain  English).  The  upper 
four  bits  of  this  location  point  to  the 
start  of  the  screen.  Normally  the  bit 
pattern  is  0001,  meaning  that  the 
screen  starts  at  1*1024.  If  we  want  to 
change  the  location  of  the  screen, 
we  must  be  careful  not  to  disturb  the 
remainder  of  this  byte.  This  can  be 
done  using  the  following  statement: 

POKE  53272,PEEK(53272)AND15  OR  S*16 

The  variable  S  holds  the  num- 
ber of  the  IK  block  where  the 
screen  starts.  It  must  be  a  number 
from  0  to  15  because  the  video  chip 
can  access  information  such  as 
screen  memory,  sprite  definitions, 
and  character  definitions  from  only 
one  of  four  16K  blocks.  So  to 
change  the  start  of  screen  memory 
to  12288  (12*1024),  type: 

POKE  53272,PEEK(53272)  AND15  OR 
12«16. 

But  POKEing  to  53272  is  not 
enough.  There  are  a  couple  of  prob- 
lems to  overcome.  Even  though  the 
computer  is  now  displaying  screen 
memory  from  a  new  location,  the 
BASIC  editor  is  still  printing  to  the 
old  screen. 

Location  648  tells  the  operat- 
ing system  where  to  find  the  screen 
if  it  needs  to  print  something.  It 
contains  the  start  of  screen  memory 
divided  by  256.  Since  the  screen 
normally  starts  at  1024  this  location 
is  normally  4  (4*256  is  1024).  To 
change  the  start  of  screen  memory  to 
12288  enter: 

POKE  648,48. 

Even  after  telling  the  computer 
where  to  start  its  screen  display 
memory  and  telling  the  editor 
where  to  print,  there  is  still  a  prob- 
lem. Locations  217  to  242  hold  a 
screen  line  link  table  necessary  for 
proper  formatting  of  anything  print- 
ed to  the  screen.  If  you  type  more 
than  40  characters  on  a  line,  the 
computer  uses  the  line  links  to  find 
out  where  to  start  the  next  line  After 
flipping  pages,  this  table  will  still  be 
set  to  work  with  the  old  screen.  The 
line  link  table  must  be  rebuilt  to 
work  vrith  the  new  screen.  BASIC 
has  a  routine  that  will  do  al!  this  for 


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ALGEBRA  I 

Comprehensive  coverage  of  all  topics  conained 
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GEOMETRY 

Comprehensive  coverage  of  all  loptcs  contained 
jtar  counc  in  geometry. 

ALGEBRA  2 

Comprehensive  coverage  of  all  topics  contained 

year  course  in  intennediaie  algebra 

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us;  the  clear  screen  routine.  Once 
the  screen  is  cleared,  all  the  line 
links  are  set  for  the  new  screen.  But 
in  Sleuth,  it's  necessary  that  the 
screen  not  clear  when  the  pages  are 
flipped.  The  machine  language  rou- 
tine at  the  start  of  the  program  does 
the  relinking  without  clearing  the 
screen  and  sets  the  color  RAM  to 
blue. 

It's  possible  to  flip  screen  mem- 
ory pages,  but  there  is  only  one 
location  for  color  memory  (starting 
at  55296).  This  makes  it  necessary  to 
set  the  color  memory  when  a  page  is 
flipped.  Otherwise,  the  characters 
could  be  on  the  new  screen,  but 
might  be  the  same  color  as  the 
screen  and  would  not  be  visible.  A 
second  method  is  to  save  the  color 
RAM  in  another  portion  of  memory 
and  move  it  back  when  the  page  is 
displayed. 

Finally,  the  new  screens  that 
you  create  should  be  protected 
from  BASIC  by  POKEing  location 
56  and  doing  a  CLR.  Also,  when 
you're  typing  on  an  alternate  screen 
and  press  RUN /STOP-RESTORE, 
location  53272  is  reset  but  location 
648  is  not.  Display  memory  is  now 
at  1024,  but  your  typing  is  still  be- 


ing printed  on  the  other  screen. 
This  can  be  fixed  by  typing: 

POKE  648,4 

and  pressing  RETURN  (even  though 
you  can't  see  what's  being  typed). 

If  you  don't  want  to  write  your 
own  page  flipping  routine,  you  can 
use  the  one  in  Sleuth.  Include  lines 
l-9,36,320,and  485-540  in  your 
program  (you  can  renumber  them, 
of  course).  Line  1  protects  the  new 
screens  from  BASIC  and  reads  the 
machine  language  routine,  from 
lines  2  to  9,  into  memory.  This 
should  be  done  at  the  start  of  the 
program. 

Line  36  calls  line  540,  which 
clears  all  the  alternate  screens. 
Then  the  position  array  is  set  to  0. 
This  array,  labeled  C,  keeps  track  of 
which  row  the  cursor  is  on  when  a 
page  is  flipped  and  returns  the  cur- 
sor to  that  row  when  the  page  is 
restored.  This  routine  should  also 
go  at  the  beginning  of  the  program. 
Line  320  checks  for  the  press  of  the 
function  keys.  It  should  be  included 
as  part  of  your  key  input  routine. 
Lines  485-535  are  the  main  page 
flipping  routine  and  can  be  placed 
anywhere  in  the  program.  © 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     19 


Switchbox 


Todd  Heimarck,  Assistant  Editor 


Here's  a  challenging  game  of  strategy 
for  the  Commodore  128  that  looks 
easy  at  first,  but  takes  time  to  master 
and  permits  many  variations. 


Playing  "Switchbox"  is  like  putting 
dominos  in  place  for  a  chain  reac- 
tion— either  you're  setting  them  in 
position  or  you're  knocking  them 
over.  Winning  requires  skill  and  a 
sense  of  when  to  go  for  points  and 
when  to  lay  back  and  wait  for  a 
better  board.  The  goal  is  simple:  You 
try  to  score  more  points  than  your 
opponent  by  dropping  balls  into  a 
box  full  of  two-way  switches.  Each 
switch  has  a  trigger  and  a  platform. 
If  the  ball  lands  on  an  empty  plat- 
form, it  stops  dead.  But  if  it  hits  a 
trigger,  it  reverses  the.  switch  and 
continues.  In  many  cases  dropping  a 
single  ball  creates  a  cascading  ef- 
fect— one  ball  sets  another  in  mo- 
tion, which  sets  others  in  motion, 
etc.,  all  the  way  down. 

Box  Of  Switches 

Switchbox  is  a  tale  of  twos:  Each 
switch  has  two  parts,  two  positions, 
two  states,  two  paths  in,  and  two 
paths  out.  The  two  parts  are  the 
platform  and  the  trigger.  A  switch 
can  lean  to  the  left  (platform  left, 
trigger  right)  or  to  the  right  (plat- 
form right,  trigger  left): 

The  trigger  is  weak,  and  al- 
ways allows  balls  to  pass.  But  the 
platform  is  strong  enough  to  hold  a 
single  ball.  So  the  platform  either 
holds  a  ball — it's  full — or  it  does 
not  and  is  empty.  When  a  ball  sits 
on  a  platform,  the  switch  is  said  to 
be  loaded,  or  full. 

Figure  2  shows  a  full  switch 


Figure  1.  Trigger  States 

Before:  After: 

Left  switch       Right  switch 


\\ 


Z7 


9 


Figure  2.  Loaded  Trigger 


Left 

Right 

path 

path 

in 

In 

Z7 


Z7 


over  two  empty  switches.  The  plat- 
form holds  a  ball  and  leans  to  the 
left.  The  trigger  extends  to  the  right. 
Note  that  the  switch  on  top  has  two 
pathways  leading  in,  the  left  path 
and  the  right,  and  that  the  right 
path  leading  out  is  the  left  path  into 


one  of  the  switches  below.  The  left 
path  of  the  top  switch  leads  into  the 
right  path  of  the  other,  the  switch 
below  and  to  the  left.  If  you  drop  a 
ball  down  the  righthand  path,  it 
hits  the  trigger  and  flips  that  switch 
to  the  right.  Then  it  continues 
down,  hits  the  lefthand  trigger  be- 
low and  flips  that  switch  as  well. 
In  the  meantime,  the  ball  on 
the  platform  is  set  in  motion  (when 
the  switch  is  flipped)  and  then  hits 
the  trigger.  The  top  switch  is  reset 
to  point  to  the  left.  The  second  ball 
then  drops  a  level  to  the  platform 
below,  where  it  stops.  The  playing 
field  is  composed  of  five  levels, 
with  four  switches  in  the  first  level 
and  eight  in  the  bottom  level.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  game,  there  are  no 
balls  on  the  field — all  platforms  are 
empty — and  the  position  of  each 
switch  is  chosen  randomly. 

Moving  Down  The  Path 

Players  alternate  dropping  balls 
into  one  of  eight  entry  points. 
These  balls  (and  others)  may  or 
may  not  make  it  all  the  way 
through  the  switchbox,  to  one  of 
the  16  exit  paths.  Balls  fall  straight 
down  (with  one  exception),  so  a 
ball's  movement  is  always  predict- 
able. When  it  hits  an  empty  switch, 
one  of  two  things  can  happen.  If  it 
lands  on  the  empty  platform,  it 
stops  dead  in  its  tracks.  But  if  it 
lands  on  a  trigger,  it  falls  through  to 
the  next  level  below. 

Moving  balls  always  make  it 
through  loaded  svintches.  Triggers 
allow  balls  to  continue,  and  move 
the  switch  to  the  other  position.  If 
it's  loaded,  the  dead  ball  on  the 
platform  is  put  into  motion  and  it 
hits  the  trigger  that  just  moved  over. 


20    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  GazeMe 


This  makes  the  switch  go  back  to  its 
original  position,  but  with  an  enipty 
platform.  So  when  a  ball  hits  the 
trigger  of  a  loaded  switch,  its  motion 
continues  unabated.  The  switch 
moves,  the  ball  on  the  platform  be- 
gins to  fall  and  it  hits  the  newly 
placed  trigger.  The  newly  emptied 
switch  moves  back  again,  and  the 
two  balls  drop  to  the  next  level. 

There's  one  more  possibility:  a 
ball  dropping  onto  a  platform  that 
already  holds  a  ball.  A  platform 
can't  hold  any  more  than  one  ball, 
so  when  this  happens  one  of  the 
balls  slides  over  to  the  trigger.  So 
the  ball  does  not  move  straight 
down — it  slides  over  to  the  next 
pathway.  This  is  the  exception  to 
the  rule  that  balls  drop  in  a  straight 
line.  Of  course,  when  the  ball  hits 
the  trigger,  the  switch  changes  po- 
sition, causing  the  other  ball  to  drop 
and  hit  the  trigger. 

The  Chain  Reaction 

At  the  game's  start,  all  platforms 
are  empty,  so  four  of  eight  entry 
paths  are  blocked.  Remember  that 
your  turn  ends  when  a  ball  hits  an 
empty  platform  and  stops.  As  the 
switches  fill  up,  the  chances  in- 
crease that  a  ball  will  descend 
through  several  levels.  The  goal  is 
to  score  points  by  getting  balls  to 
pass  all  the  way  through  the  maze 
of  the  switchbox.  The  best  way  to 
collect  a  lot  of  points  is  to  cause  a 
chain  reaction. 

A  ball  that  hits  a  loaded  switch 
from  either  side  continues  on  its 
way.  And  the  previously  inert  ball 
on  the  platform  starts  moving.  One 
enters,  two  exit.  If  both  of  those 
balls  encounter  full  platforms,  four 
drop  from  the  switches.  The  path- 
ways are  staggered,  so  the  effects 
can  spread  outward,  with  more  and 
more  balls  cascading  toward  the 
bottom. 

Rather  than  taking  an  easy 
point  or  two,  it's  often  worthwhile 
to  build  up  layers  of  loaded  switch- 
es. Watch  out  for  leaving  yourself 
vulnerable,  though.  Because  play- 
ers take  turns,  you'll  want  to  leave 
positions  where  your  opponent's 
move  gives  you  a  chance  to  create  a 
chain  reaction.  The  best  strategy  is 
to  play  defensively.  Look  ahead  a 
move  or  two,  and  watch  for  an 
opening  that  allows  you  to  score 
several  points  at  once. 


Four  Quarters 

A  game  of  Switchbox  always  lasts 
four  rounds.  In  the  first  (equality), 
each  exit  counts  for  two  points. 
Your  goal  is  to  score  ten  points.  The 
second  quarter  has  more  points 
available,  as  well  as  a  higher  goal.  If 
you  look  at  the  exits,  you'll  see  that 
the  further  away  from  the  middle, 
the  higher  the  point  value.  The 
numbers  increase  in  a  "Fibonacci" 
sequence:  1,  2,  3,  5,  8,  and  so  on. 
Each  number  is  the  sum  of  the  pre- 
vious two  (1 4-2  is  3,  2  +  3  is  5,  3  +  5 
is  8,  etc.).  The  target  score  in  round 
two  is  40. 

In  round  three  the  numbers  are 
a  bit  lower.  They  increase  arithmet- 
ically {1,  2,  3,  4,  up  to  8  in  the 
comers).  A  goal  of  20  points  brings 
you  to  round  four,  where  you  can 
score  big.  Here  the  numbers  are 
squares:  1,  4,  9,  16,  25,  all  the  way 
to  64  at  the  edges.  In  rounds  two 
through  four,  it's  sometimes  pru- 
dent to  leave  a  middle  path  open 
for  your  opponent  to  score  a  few 
points,  in  order  to  gather  a  high 
score  on  the  big  numbers  to  the  left 
and  right. 

Each  round  lasts  until  one 
player  has  reached  the  goal.  At  that 
point  the  other  player  has  one  last 
turn  before  the  round  ends.  It's  pos- 
sible to  win  the  round  on  this  last- 
chance  play;  watch  out  for  barely 
topping  the  goal  and  leaving  a 
chain  reaction  open  for  the  other 
player.  An  arrow  points  to  the 
scoreboard  of  the  player  whose 
turn  it  is.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
screen,  you'll  see  a  number  where 
the  arrow  should  be.  That's  the  goal 
for  the  current  round  (the  Amiga 
version  displays  the  goal  on  both 
sides  of  the  screen,  below  the 
scoreboards). 

Bonus  points  are  awarded  at 
the  conclusion  of  each  round.  Four 
numbers  appear  below  the  score- 
cards.  The  first  is  simply  the  total  so 
far.  The  second  is  the  total  plus  a 
bonus  of  the  goal  for  the  round  if  the 
player's  points  are  equal  to  or 
greater  than  the  goal.  For  example  if 
the  goal  is  20  and  you  get  1 8,  there's 
no  bonus.  If  you  score  22,  the  bonus 
is  the  goal  for  that  round  (20)  and 
you'd  have  42  poirxts.  The  third 
number  under  the  scoreboard  is  the 
difference  between  scores  for  the 
rounds.  If  you  win  by  two  points. 


two  is  added  to  your  score  (and  two 
is  subtracted  from  the  other  player). 
The  final  number  is  the  grand  total 
of  the  first  three  scores  and  bonuses. 
Rounds  one  and  three  are  fairly  low- 
scoring  with  low  goals.  You  may 
want  to  seed  the  field  with  extra 
balls  during  these  quarters,  so  you 
can  collect  more  points  in  the  sec- 
ond and  fourth  quarters. 

Variations 

Although  the  goal  of  the  game  is  to 
score  the  most  points,  there's  no 
reason  you  couldn't  agree  to  play 
for  low  score.  In  a  "lowball"  game, 
you  would  try  to  avoid  scoring 
points.  You  wouldn't  necessarily 
play  backwards,  you  would  have  to 
adjust  the  strategy  of  where  to  place 
the  balls.  Fill  up  the  board  as  much 
as  possible  and  leave  your  oppo- 
nent in  a  situafion  where  he  or  she 
is  forced  to  score  points. 

The  DATA  statements  at  the 
beginning  of  the  program  (the  Setup: 
routine  in  the  Amiga  version)  deter- 
mine the  goal  for  each  round  and 
the  point  values  for  the  exit  paths. 
You  can  prolong  the  game  by  dou- 
bling the  goals;  this  also  dilutes  the 
value  of  a  big  score  at  the  beginning 
of  a  round,  preventing  one  player 
from  vanning  on  the  first  or  second 
turn.  An  interesting  variation  is  to 
assign  negative  values  to  some  slots. 
If  some  paths  score  negative  points, 
you  are  forced  to  think  harder  about 
where  the  balls  will  drop. 

In  addifion  to  the  numbered 
keys  (1-8),  the  plus  (  +  )  and  minus 
(  — )  keys  are  active.  Pressing  plus 
drops  a  ball  at  random  down  one  of 
the  eight  entry  paths.  Pressing 
minus  allows  you  to  pass  your  turn 
to  your  opponent. 

Once  you've  mastered  the  reg- 
ular game,  you  can  add  some  new 
rules.  Each  player  gets  three  passes 
per  half,  similar  to  the  three 
timeouts  in  a  football  game.  If  you 
don't  like  the  looks  of  the  board, 
press  the  minus  key  to  use  one  of 
your  passes.  After  one  player  has 
skipped  a  turn,  the  other  player 
must  play  (this  prevents  the  possi- 
bility of  six  passes  in  a  row).  It's  also 
a  good  idea  to  make  a  rule  that  a 
player  can't  pass  on  two  consecu- 
tive turns.  You  can  also  give  each 
player  two  random  moves  to  be 
played  for  the  opponent.  In  other 
words,  after  making  a  move,  you 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  cff>d  Gazette    21 


could  inform  your  opponent  that 
you're  going  to  give  him  one  of 
your  random  moves  and  you  would 
press  the  plus  key. 

Here's  one  more  change  you 
could  make:  Instead  of  alternating 
turns,  allow  a  player  to  continue 
after  scoring.  When  a  player  drops  a 
ball  and  scores  some  points,  the 
other  player  would  have  to  pass  (by 
pressing  the  minus  key).  If  the  first 
player  scores  again,  the  opponent 
passes  again,  and  so  on  until  no 
more  points  are  scored. 

Playing  Solitaire 

To  drop  a  ball,  press  a  numbered 
key  (1-8).  If  you're  using  a  128,  ST 
or  Amiga,  the  numeric  keypad  is 
convenient  for  choosing  a  move.  By 
using  the  pass  and  random  turn 
options,  you  can  play  against  the 
computer.  Here  are  the  rules  for 
solitaire  play: 

1.  The  computer  always  scores 
first.  At  the  beginning  of  every 
round,  the  computer  plays  random- 
ly until  at  least  one  point  is  ac- 
quired. Press  the  plus  key  for  the 
computer's  turn.  You  must  contin- 
ue passing  (skip  your  turn  with  the 
minus  key)  until  the  computer  puts 
points  on  the  board. 

2.  After  the  first  score  by  the 
computer,  you  can  begin  to  play. 
When  the  computer  has  a  turn, 
press  the  plus  key  for  a  random 
move. 

3.  Whenever  you  make  points, 
you  must  pass  again  unhl  the  com- 
puter scores.  When  the  computer 
gets  more  points,  you  can  begin  to 
play  again.  This  rule  means  you 
should  hold  back  on  the  easy  scores 
of  a  few  points;  wait  until  there's  an 
avalanche  available. 

4.  If  you're  the  first  to  reach  the 
goal,  the  computer  gets  a  last 
chance.  Don't  make  this  move  ran- 
domly; figure  out  the  best  opportu- 
nity for  scoring  and  play  that  move 
for  the  last-chance  turn. 

In  the  interest  of  keeping  the 
program  at  manageable  length,  no 
attempt  has  been  made  to  provide 
an  "intelligent"  computer  oppo- 
nent. Once  you  become  familiar 
with  the  game,  you  might  find  it  an 
interesting  project  to  try  adding 
some  routines  that  give  the  com- 
puter a  rational  basis  for  picking 
one  move  over  another.  © 


Q-Bird 


Mike  Sedore 


This  delightful  and  colorful  arcade- 
style  game  for  the  Commodore  64 
challenges  your  character,  a  defense- 
less (but  nimble)  baby  bluebird,  to 
survive  among  a  crew  of  nasty,  hungry 
enemies.  A  joystick  is  required. 


Other  birds  say  you're  paranoid, 
but  you're  not — everyone  really  is 
out  to  get  you.  You  often  ask  your- 
self how  long  a  defenseless  baby 
bluebird  can  hope  to  survive  when 
a  host  of  voracious  predators  are 
looking  for  a  meal.  If  only  you 
could  leave  this  place  to  find  a  new 
home.  But  alas — you're  too  young 
to  fly.  The  best  you  can  manage  is  a 
flapping  long  jump.  But  you'd  bet- 
ter be  careful  not  to  jump  too  far: 
You  could  fall  a  long  way  down. 

Q-Bird  is  played  on  a  6  X  7 
grid.  There  are  15  levels  of  play 
from  which  to  choose.  As  you  play, 
you  advance  level  by  level  by  com- 
pleting grids.  A  grid  is  complete 
when  the  color  of  each  square 
matches  the  goal  color  shown  at  the 
bottom  of  the  screen.  To  change  the 
color  of  a  square,  simply  hop  on  it. 
You  have  to  jump  on  each  square 
once  in  level  i,  twice  in  level  2,  and 
so  on  up  to  level  15.  A  bonus  life  is 
awarded  each  time  you  complete  a 
level.  If  you  reach  level  15,  you 
should  feel  satisfied.  It  doesn't  get 
any  harder  than  this.  But  don't  re- 
lax; it  doesn't  get  any  easier  either. 

You  start  with  five  lives. 
Choose  your  starting  level  by  push- 
ing forward  on  the  joystick  (which 
must  be  plugged  into  port  2).  If  you 
pass  the  level  you  want  to  play,  pull 
back  on  the  stick  to  reverse  the  level 


counter.  Press  the  fire  button  to 
begin  play.  To  hop,  simply  move 
the  joystick  in  the  direction  you 
want  to  go.  For  a  super  jump,  push 
the  fire  button  as  you  hop:  You'll 
leap  over  a  square  and  land  on  the 
next.  If  you  time  it  right,  you  can 
leap  right  over  your  enemies.  But 
be  careful  not  to  jump  over  the  side 
of  the  grid.  That  costs  one  life. 

Press  SHIFT-LOCK  to  pause 
the  game.  To  restart  a  game,  press 
RUN/STOP-RESTORE. 

Leapln'  Lizards 

Three  purple  lizards  live  on  the 
grid.  They  randomly  leap  off  of 
their  tails  from  square  to  square, 
landing  on  any  bluebirds  careless 
enough  to  get  in  their  way.  But 
they're  the  least  of  your  worries. 
There's  a  king  cobra  that  relentless- 
ly chases  you.  He's  got  a  hole  in  his 
stomach  just  the  size  of  a  baby 
bluebird.  If  he  doesn't  get  you,  then 
perhaps  the  low-flying  and  hungry 
hawk  will.  And  while  you're  look- 
ing out  for  all  of  these  villains,  try  to 
dodge  the  runaway  balls  that  roll 
down  the  grid.  Any  one  of  them 
could  turn  you  into  a  bluebird  pan- 
cake in  a  moment. 

Fortunately,  you  do  have  an 
ally.  Occasionally,  a  flashing  egg 
appears  on  a  random  square.  If  you 
hop  on  it,  you  momentarily  stun  all 
the  grid  inhabitants.  You  can  now 
go  anywhere  you  please  without 
harm.  Unfortunately,  this  doesn't 
last  long.  When  the  safe  time  is 
nearly  through,  your  character,  the 
bluebird,  begins  flashing.  All  action 
returns  to  normal  after  the  third 
flash,  so  be  ready  for  the  frenzy  to 
continue.  ® 


22     Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Hex  War 


Todd  Heimarck,  Assistant  Editor 


You  float  high  above  a  distant  planet, 
controlling  robot  armies  below.  Can 
you  take  control  of  the  priceless  min- 
ing turf  planetside,  or  will  your  oppo- 
nent's robot  crews  prevail?  To  win  at 
this  thoughtfully  designed,  engaging 
strategy  game,  you'll  need  foresight 
and  conceptual  skills  rather  than  a 
quick  hand  on  the  joystick. 


"Hex  War"  is  a  two-player  strategy 
game  that  can  be  played  five  differ- 
ent ways,  and  there  are  limitless 
variations.  But  the  basic  premise  is 
always  the  same:  You  and  an  oppo- 
nent move  armies  on  a  field  of 
hexagons,  attempting  to  capture 
territory. 

The  goal  of  the  first  two  games 
is  simple:  capture  the  capital  city  of 
the  other  player.  In  game  1,  the 
capital  cities  are  far  apart;  you  must 
devote  some  of  your  armies  to  de- 
fending your  own  capital  while  at- 
tempting to  breach  the  walls  of  the 
other  capital.  Game  2  puts  the  capi- 
tals near  each  other,  so  offense  and 
defense  tend  to  merge  in  this  sce- 
nario. Most  of  the  action  takes  place 
within  a  small  area  of  the  battle- 
field. 

Games  3  and  4  spread  the  ac- 
tion over  a  wider  area.  In  the  third 
game,  your  object  is  to  occupy  eight 
of  the  twelve  cities  on  the  game 
board.  Six  cities  occupy  the  periph- 
ery, and  six  are  in  the  center  of  the 
playfield.  Game  4  requires  actual 


control  of  six  cities;  you  must  have 
an  army  in  the  city,  one  that's  not 
involved  in  a  battle,  before  you're 
credited  with  control  (this  version 
will  probably  take  the  most  amount 
of  time  to  play). 

Although  the  first  four  scenari- 
os encourage  a  commitment  to  bat- 
tle, you  employ  different  tactics  in 
the  fifth.  The  goal  here  is  to  acquire 
40  of  the  61  hexes,  so  you  need 
some  free  armies  to  move  around. 
As  soon  as  you  claim  40  hexes,  you 
win  the  game. 

When  you  first  run  Hex  War, 
the  computer  pauses  to  set  up  the 
screen,  then  displays  a  menu  of  five 
choices.  The  five  different  games  are 
explained  in  detail  below.  If  you're 
new  to  the  game,  press  the  1  key  to 
choose  game  1.  There  will  be  anoth- 
er short  pause  while  the  variables 
are  initialized,  and  then  you'll  see  a 
playfield  with  61  hex  shapes,  con- 
taining four  armies  on  each  side. 

Hexes  And  Hexadecimal 

A  chess  board  has  64  squares  ar- 
ranged in  a  rectilinear  grid.  Hex 
War  gives  you  a  playing  field  of  61 
hexagons  (almost  as  many  as  a 
chess  board),  but  they're  part  of  a 
six-sided  honeycomb  field.  If 
you've  played  war  games  before, 
you  may  recognize  the  hexes. 

Before  playing,  plug  the  joy- 
stick into  port  2.  At  first,  the  cursor 
movement  may  seem  unusual.  The 
cursor  travels  not  up-down/left- 
right,  but  northeast-southeast/ 
northwest-southwest.  To  make  the 


movement  less  confusing,  turn 
your  joystick  45  degrees  clockwise, 
so  that  what  was  up  becomes 
northeast,  and  so  on. 

Each  hex  has  six  neighbors,  so 
an  army  can  move  in  six  possible 
directions.  To  travel  left  and  right, 
you'll  have  to  push  the  joystick 
twice  (for  example,  up  and  right  on 
the  joystick  to  move  one  hex  to  the 
right,  which  counts  as  one  move- 
ment). 

Army  strengths  are  listed  in 
hexadecimal  (base  16)  numbers,  so 
the  four  armies  labeled  40  actually 
have  strengths  of  64  (the  hexadeci- 
mal value  40  equals  64  in  our  every- 
day decimal  numbering  system).  At 
the  beginning  of  a  turn,  any  army 
has  exactly  three  movement  points. 
It  requires  one  point  to  move  an 
army  into  a  neutral  or  enemy- 
controlled  zone.  To  move  through 
the  same  zone  also  requires  a  point. 
To  move  into  and  through  a  friend- 
ly hex  requires  a  total  of  one  point. 
This  means  you  can  move  a  single 
army  through  two  neutral  or  enemy 
hexes  in  any  one  turn,  but  the  same 
army  can  move  through  up  to  three 
friendly  zones  during  a  turn. 

Select  an  army  by  moving  the 
cursor  onto  it.  Click  the  joystick 
button  once,  then  position  the  cur- 
sor on  a  neighboring  hex  and  click 
again.  If  you  wish  to  stop,  click 
again,  and  two  plus  signs  (++) 
will  appear,  signaling  that  no  more 
movement  can  occur.  Otherwise, 
position  the  cursor  on  another 
neighboring  hex  and  click. 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     23 


Zones  Of  Control 

Each  army  controls  the  six  contigu- 
ous hexes  surrounding  its  resident 
hex.  If  you  enter  an  enemy's  zone 
of  control,  you  forfeit  any  addition- 
al moves  and  must  prepare  for  bat- 
tle. In  addition,  an  army  that  begins 
the  turn  in  a  zone  of  control  cannot 
move  until  the  battle  is  resolved. 

Robots  Vs.  Robots 

In  this  game,  you  aren't  really  on 
the  planet,  but  parked  high  above  it 
in  a  remote  mothership.  You've 
landed  some  robots  to  explore  the 
area,  and  they've  encountered  ro- 
bots belonging  to  another  explorer. 
Your  robots,  or  bots  as  you  call 
them,  follovk'  your  orders  to  ad- 
vance toward  the  other  bots.  Each 
bot  has  a  mining  laser  which  can 
stop  or  disable  the  other  bots.  Also, 
your  bots  have  disrupter  beams 
which  can  daze  another  bot,  tem- 
porarily confusing  it.  When  two 
bot-groups  come  close  to  each  oth- 
er, they  shoot  lasers  and  disruptors 
until  one  army  of  bots  is  disabled. 

Three  things  can  happen  to  a 
robot  which  suffers  a  hit.  If  the 
robot  suffers  a  direct  hit  in  its  logic 
unit  by  a  laser,  it  is  vaporized.  It  is 
destroyed  forever  and  never  reap- 
pears in  play. 

The  second  thing  that  can  hap- 
pen is  injury.  If  the  laser  beam  is 
deflected,  the  robot  is  out  of  com- 
mission until  it  can  be  transported 
back  to  a  botspital.  An  injured  bot  is 
frozen  in  place  until  the  battle  is 
finished,  after  which  the  victorious 
army  carts  away  the  injured  bots  to 
be  repaired  and  reused. 

Thus,  winning  a  battle  means 
you  evacuate  both  the  friendly  in- 
jured and  the  enemy  injured.  After 
all  of  the  injured  bots  recover,  they 
join  the  force  in  whose  botspital  they 
were  healed.  In  effect,  injured  bots 
eventually  become  members  of  the 
army  which  won  the  battle  in 
which  they  were  damaged. 

The  third  possibility  is  confu- 
sion: The  robot  is  temporarily  disori- 
ented for  two  turns.  When  the  time 
has  passed,  the  robot  is  ready  again. 

Reprogromming  Bots 

Moving  the  cursor  onto  an  army  of 
robots  brings  up  a  status  window  in 
the  upper-left  comer  of  the  screen. 
The  number  in  reverse  video  is  un- 
important; it's  the  army  number 


(which  may  change  as  the  game 
progresses). 

The  four  numbers  underneath 
are  significant,  however.  The  first  is 
the  army's  active  strength  {in  deci- 
mal). The  second  is  the  number  of 
injured  robots,  which  will  be  trans- 
ported to  the  botspital  of  whichever 
side  wins  the  battle.  The  third — on 
the  line  below — is  the  number  of 
disrupted  robots  who  will  be  avail- 
able for  combat  in  the  next  turn. 
The  fourth  number  is  how  many 
robots  can  join  the  active  force  two 
turns  from  now. 

if  one  side  is  able  to  reduce  the 
other  player's  active  force  to  zero, 
two  things  happen.  The  winner 
sends  all  injured  bots  away  to  be 
repaired.  The  winning  side  also  col- 
lects all  enemy  bots  (injured  or 
dazed)  and  sends  them  to  the  rein- 
forcement center  to  be  repro- 
grammed.  Eventually  all  these  bots 
will  available  to  the  winner  of  this 
particular  battle  for  future  engage- 
ments. 

Reinforcements 
And  Mergers 

At  the  start  of  the  game,  you'll  see 
some  armies  positioned  outside  of 
the  hex  field.  These  are  reinforce- 
ments and  reserves  in  transit  to  the 
battle.  Player  one's  reinforcements 
enter  at  the  bottom  right  comer; 
player  two's  enter  at  the  top  left. 
The  line  of  new  armies  moves 
counterclockwise;  the  army  next  to 
the  entry  point  is  the  next  to  enter 
the  battlefield. 

However,  the  reinforcements 
cannot  enter  the  battlefield  if  an 
army  (friendly  or  enemy)  is  block- 
ing their  way.  Keep  your  armies  off 
your  own  reinforcement  point,  and 
try  to  block  your  opponent's  armies 
from  this  area  if  you  can.  If  the 
entry  hex  is  owned  but  not  occu- 
pied by  your  opponent,  you'll  lose 
some  reinforcements. 

After  completing  a  turn,  you 
are  credited  with  additional  rein- 
forcements according  to  how  much 
territory  you  own.  Passing  over  a 
hex  allows  you  to  claim  it;  the  hex 
changes  color  to  indicate  owner- 
ship. Each  piece  of  property  pro- 
vides enough  ore  and  energy  to 
build  a  new  robot,  available  for  use 
two  tums  in  the  future.  The  num- 
bers in  the  line  of  reinforcements 
are  updated  after  you  move  to  show 


additional  robots  being  built. 

Winning  a  battle  also  provides 
additional  armies  in  the  line  of  rein- 
forcements. As  mentioned  above,  a 
victorious  army  captures  any  dazed 
enemy  bots,  which  are  repro- 
grammed  and  available  in  three 
tums.  At  the  same  time,  the  winner 
evacuates  injured  bots  of  both 
sides.  Transportation  and  repair 
take  five  tums  for  friendly  bots, 
seven  for  enemy  bots.  The  two  ad- 
ditional tums  are  needed  for  repro- 
gramming  the  opponent's  forces. 

If  you're  losing  a  battle,  the 
number  of  injured  robots  (dis- 
played in  the  status  window)  will 
begin  to  rise.  Reniember  that,  if 
your  opponent  reduces  your  active 
strength  to  zero,  he  or  she  will  cap- 
ture all  of  your  injured  bots;  they'll 
be  reprogrammed  and  added  to  fu- 
ture reinforcements.  To  prevent 
this  from  happening,  you're  al- 
lowed to  bring  in  a  second  army  for 
merging.  Simply  move  another 
army  on  top  of  the  army  with  which 
you  want  to  merge.  There's  just  one 
mle:  One  or  both  of  the  armies 
must  have  a  strength  less  than  32 
decimal  (IF  or  less  in  hex). 

Customizing  The  Scenarios 

The  five  built-in  scenarios  provide 
plenty  of  variety,  but  if  you'd  like  to 
add  more  challenges,  here  are  some 
suggestions. 

First,  a  note  about  the  logical 
organization  of  the  grid.  The  vari- 
ables T  and  B,  CT  and  CB,  and  HT 
and  HB  are  used  to  locate  the  coor- 
dinates on  the  playing  field  (see 
figure).  The  first  number  is  T  (or  HT 
or  CT),  the  second  is  B  (or  HB  or 
CB).  These  coordinates  are  also 
used  in  the  three-dimensional  MAP 
array  (where  level  0  of  the  array  is 
the  army  number,  1  is  the  current 
owner  and  2  keeps  track  of  whether 
or  not  a  city  is  located  there); 
they're  also  part  of  the  ARMY  ar- 
ray. By  varying  the  starting  posi- 
tion, number  of  armies,  reinforce- 
ment strengths,  and  location  of 
cities,  you  could  simulate  historic 
battles. 

To  add  or  subtract  cities  from 
the  field,  change  the  value  of  CN  in 
line  50.  You'll  also  have  to  change 
the  DATA  statements  in  lines  270 
and  280.  The  numbers  there  are  the 
T  and  B  coordinates  of  the  cities. 

The  strengths  and  locations  of 


24    Best  ot  COMPUTEl  and  Gazette 


the  armies  can  be  changed  as  well. 
The  DATA  statements  starting  at 
line  1540  determine  the  strength 
(64)  and  T/B  coordinates  for  the 
armies  at  the  beginning  of  the 
game.  If  you  wish  to  start  with  more 
armies  (or  fewer),  you'll  have  to 
change  the  inner  FOR-NEXT  loop 
(with  the  index  of  K)  in  line  1500.  In 
that  same  line,  change  NX(J)  to  one 
number  higher  than  the  number  of 
armies  on  each  side.  For  example,  if 
you  want  six  armies  apiece,  change 
NX(J)  to  7.  The  subroutine  at  line 
1600  sets  up  the  reinforcements;  if 
you  don't  like  the  random  patterns, 
change  the  formula  here. 

Variables  defined  in  lines 
70-90  control  the  play  of  the  game. 
PN  determines  which  player  goes 
second;  it  can  be  either  zero  or  one. 
Variable  ME  controls  the  maximum 
merge  strength.  If  you'd  like  to  be 
able  to  merge  any  two  armies, 
change  it  to  a  high  value  (512,  for 
example).  To  remove  the  merge  op- 
tion altogether,  change  ME  to  zero. 

The  movement  points  are  de- 
fined by  MM  in  line  80.  Movement 
across  friendly  territory  takes  one 
point,  across  neutral  or  hostile  terri- 
tory two  points.  Increasing  MM  will 
give  your  armies  more  mobility. 
The  three  variables  KA,  KB,  and  KC 
affect  the  outcome  of  individual 
battles.  KA  determines  how  many 
bots  are  vaporized,  KB  controls  the 
number  injured,  and  KC  affects 
how  many  are  dazed.  If  you  make 
the  fractions  smaller  (1/24,  for 
example),  the  battles  end  more 
quickly.  The  subroutine  starting  at 
line  2600  resolves  current  battles. 

Running  Hex  War 

To  play  Hex  War,  type  this  line  in 
direct  mode  (without  line  numbers): 

POKE  44,64:POKE  64*256,0:NEW 

Be  sure  to  press  RETURN  after  you 
type  the  line.  Now  load  and  run 
Hex  War  as  usual.  It  is  very  impor- 
tant that  you  perform  this  step 
before  running  the  program:  If  you 
don't,  the  screen  will  be  jumbled 
and  impossible  to  decipher. 

You  may  find  it  easier  to  let  the 
64  handle  this  chore  for  you.  "Hex 
War.  Loader"  is  a  short  loader  which 
performs  the  setup,  then  loads  and 
runs  Hex  War.  To  use  the  loader, 
you  must  have  the  main  program 
saved  with  the  name  HEX  WAR  on 
the  same  disk  as  the  loader.         © 


Space 
Gallery 


Jeff  A,  Lapkoff 


Swirling  frisboids,  pellets,  and  heat 
seekers  are  headed  your  way.  Can  you 
fend  them  off  with  your  cannon?  A 
colorful  arcade-style  game  written 
entirely  in  machine  language  for  the 
Commodore  64.  Joystick  required. 


The  year  is  2023,  and  you're  a  solo 
space  gunner  on  an  earth-orbiting 
colony.  You  must  try  to  defend 
against  hostile  forces,  and  as  the 
colony's  sharpshooter,  you  must  re- 
main stationed  at  the  video  control 
center.  For  days,  the  radar  has 
shown  an  approaching  force,  and 
based  on  the  direction  and  speed  at 
which  they're  coming,  you  know 
what  to  expect:  the  dreaded  fris- 
boids, curious  but  deadly  creatures. 
They  come  in  waves  of  four,  but 
you  have  only  one  cannon.  And 
they  shower  you  with  lethal  pellets, 
which  can  destroy  your  cannon. 

The  object  of  "Space  Gallery" 
is  to  shoot  as  many  frisboids  as  you 
can  while  dodging  the  falling  pel- 
lets. To  fire  at  a  frisbold,  press  the 


fire  button  on  your  joystick 
(plugged  into  port  2).  For  each  one 
you  hit,  you  earn  five  points.  Your 
cannon  has  unlimited  ammo;  how- 
ever, the  fewer  shots  you  take,  the 
higher  your  shot  bonus  at  the  end 
of  each  level  of  play. 

To  dodge  the  pellets,  move  your 
cannon  left  or  right  with  the  joystick. 
If  your  cannon  is  hit  by  a  pellet,  it 
will  explode.  The  game  ends  when 
you've  used  up  five  cannons. 

A  Bonus  And  An  Option 

Shooting  down  five  waves  of  fris- 
boids advances  you  to  a  higher  lev- 
el and,  if  you  didn't  use  too  many 
shots,  rewards  you  with  a  shot  bo- 
nus. Once  you  get  to  level  five,  you 
receive  an  extra  cannon. 

Space  Gallery  also  features  a 
heat  seeker  option,  but  beware — it 
makes  the  game  much  more  diffi- 
cult. The  heat  seeker  is  a  normal- 
looking  frisboid  that  drops  blue 
pellets,  which  home  in  on  your  can- 
non. At  the  beginning  of  the  game, 
you  can  activate  the  heat  seeker  by 
toggling  on  the  gray  square  at  the 
bottom  of  the  screen.  <9 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     25 


Whirlybird 


This  hyperactive  bird  lays  some  rath- 
er unusual  eggs.  A  fast  action  game 
written  entirely  in  machine  language 
for  the  Commodore  64.  A  joystick  is 
required. 


"Whirlybird"  is  a  fast,  updated  ver- 
sion of  the  classic  game  Breakout. 
It's  written  entirely  in  machine  lan- 
guage. You  control  the  Whirlybird, 
who  flies  back  and  forth  at  the  top 
of  the  screen,  spinning  continuous- 
ly. The  goal  is  to  clear  out  the  layers 
of  colored  bricks  at  the  bottom  by 
bouncing  eggs  against  them.  When 
an  egg  moves  back  in  your  direc- 
tion, move  the  Whirlybird  into  its 
path  to  bounce  it  back  down.  The 
game  ends  when  you  clear  the  field 
of  bricks  or  run  out  of  eggs. 

Plug  a  joystick  into  port  2,  then 
load  and  run  Whirlybird  as  if  it 
were  a  BASIC  program.  Do  not  try 
to  start  the  program  with  SYS.  The 
playfield  appears  immediately, 
with  the  Whirlybird  twirling  across 
the  top  of  the  screen.  On  either 
edge  is  a  sparkling  row  of  side- 
beams,  and  below  are  multicolored 
rows  of  bricks.  At  the  upper  right  is 
the  number  of  eggs  you'll  have  in 
this  game.  Though  the  usual  num- 
ber is  ten,  you  can  get  a  smaller  or 
larger  number  (up  to  255)  by  push- 
ing the  joystick  backward  or  for- 
ward. (Don't  select  zero — you'll 
simply  return  to  the  startup  screen.) 

Next  you  must  pick  the  skill 
level.  Press  fl  to  play  a  normal 
game  or  f3  for  an  expert  game.  At 
the  expert  level,  the  Whirlybird  is 
only  half  its  normal  size,  making  it 
harder  to  hit  the  eggs.  After  choos- 


Philip  I.  Nelson 


ing  the  level,  the  prompts  disappear 
and  play  begins. 

Press  the  fire  button  to  release 
the  first  egg.  You  earn  one  point 
every  time  you  hit  a  brick,  and  ten 
points  every  time  you  bounce  an 
egg  back  down  with  the  Whirly- 
bird. Letting  the  egg  fly  past  you 
into  space  subtracts  ten  points  from 
your  score  (unless  it's  already  un- 
der ten).  When  that  happens,  the 
sidebeams  sparkle  continuously 
until  you  press  the  fire  button  again 
to  release  the  next  egg.  Play  contin- 
ues until  you  lose  all  your  eggs  or 
clear  the  field  of  bricks.  A  50-point 
bonus  is  awarded  for  clearing  every 
brick  from  the  screen. 

In  addition  to  normal  bricks, 
the  playfield  contains  a  few  round 
ones.  When  the  egg  hits  one  of 
those,  the  Whirlybird  swoops  down 
to  deposit  a  sidebeam  somewhere 
above  the  playfield.  This  doesn't 
affect  your  score,  and  you  get  a  free 
egg  as  well  (press  the  fire  button  to 
release  it).  However,  the  extra  side- 
beams  add  an  extra  element  of  un- 
certainty since  the  egg  rebounds 
sideways  from  them  (not  up  and 
down)  and  they  may  or  may  not 
disappear  when  struck. 

Whirlybird  displays  your  cur- 
rent score  as  well  as  the  highest 
score  attained  during  the  current 
session  (which  may  include  more 
than  one  game).  When  a  game 
ends,  both  scores  are  displayed  un- 
til you  release  the  first  egg  in  the 
next  game.  Then  the  current  score  is 
cleared  to  zero.  Since  the  high  score 
is  stored  within  the  program  code, 
you  can  record  it  for  future  compar- 
ison by  resaving  the  game  after 
each  session  ends.  (It's  a  good  idea 
to  resave  it  with  a  different  file- 


name—like "BIRDHIGH"— to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  original  copy, 
which  then  serves  as  a  backup.)  The 
next  time  you  load  and  run  Whirly- 
bird, it  displays  the  previous  high- 
est score. 

The  Joystick  Accelerator 

It  may  take  some  practice  to  master 
the  joystick  motion  in  Whirlybird. 
Rather  than  zooming  immediately 
to  the  spot  you  want,  the  bird 
moves  in  an  elastic  manner  that 
simulates  the  inertia  and  momen- 
tum of  a  natural  object.  It  takes  a  bit 
of  pushing  to  overcome  the  bird's 
inertia  and  get  it  moving.  The  long- 
er you  push  in  one  direction,  the 
more  speed  and  momentum  you 
gain  (up  to  a  point).  After  you  let  up 
on  the  stick,  the  bird  slows  down 
and  eventually  stops  by  itself.  Hit- 
ting the  sidebeam  reverses  your  di- 
rection immediately.  Reversing 
direction  in  midscreen  may  take  a 
long  or  short  time  depending  on 
your  speed. 

You  might  think  of  the  joystick 
in  this  game  as  a  gas  pedal  in  a  car. 
Keeping  your  foot  on  the  accelera- 
tor makes  the  car  move  faster  and 
faster.  Let  up  and  the  car  gradually 
slows  down.  Learning  to  control 
the  acceleration  takes  some  time. 
You  may  find  it  more  effective  to 
move  the  Whirlybird  with  short 
taps  on  the  joysrick,  rather  than 
long  periods  of  acceleration. 

Egg  Juggling 

The  direction  an  egg  bounces  when 
it  hits  the  Whirlybird  depends  on 
which  way  you're  pressing  the  joy- 
stick. If  you're  not  pressing  it  left  or 
right,  the  egg  rebounds  as  if  the  bird 
were  a  solid  wall.  If  you're  pressing 


26    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  GazeHe 


the  stick  left,  the  egg  bounces  to  the 
left;  if  you're  pressing  right,  it 
bounces  to  the  right.  This  lets  you 
control  the  direction  of  every  bounce. 
But  don't  move  the  stick  so  much 
that  you  miss  the  egg  completely. 

The  result  of  a  bird-egg  collision 
also  depends  on  what  part  of  the  bird 
you  hit.  The  safest  strategy  is  to  hit 
the  egg  uith  the  bird's  feet.  Bouncing 
it  off  a  wing  is  more  dangerous,  since 
the  bird  never  stops  turning.  If  the 
egg  arrives  when  the  wing  is  out- 
spread, you'll  usually  get  a  normal 
collision.  But  if  the  VVhirlybird  hap- 
pens to  be  facing  sideways — making 
it  very  slim  in  profile — the  egg  may 
miss  completely. 

Occasionally  a  wing  collision 
causes  the  bird  to  juggle  the  egg 
briefly.  Juggling  gives  you  extra 
points  and  may  also  change  the 
angle  of  rebound  slightly  {a  boon 
when  you're  short  on  eggs  and 
need  to  clear  the  last  few  bricks). 
But  it's  also  dangerous,  since  the 
bird  may  juggle  the  egg  upward 
and  out  of  play.  Juggling  occurs  less 
frequently  at  the  expert  level;  with 
smaller  wings  it's  more  difficult  to 
get  multiple  collisions. 

Rings  And  Filters 

Whirlybird's  unusual  sound  effects 
are  created  with  two  voices  of  the 
64's  sound  chip.  Voice  3  is  used  as  a 
random  number  generator  {to  pick 
a  random  screen  posihon  and  direc- 
tion for  each  new  egg)  and  doesn't 
produce  any  sound.  Voice  1,  set  for 
a  pulse  waveform,  makes  a  "boing" 
sound  when  an  egg  bounces,  and 
voice  2  creates  low,  thrumming 
tones  in  the  background  with  a  ring 
modulated  triangle  wave.  The 
vibrato-like  effect  results  from  ring 
modulated  overtones  that  slowly 
pass  in  and  out  of  phase  with  the 
frequencies  of  voices  1  and  2. 

These  sounds  are  made  more 
interesting  by  passing  them  through 
a  combined  lowpass/bandpass  filter 
and  sweeping  the  filter's  cutoff  fre- 
quency up  or  down  in  conjunction 
with  other  game  events.  When  you 
start  the  game  or  when  the  egg  is 
flying  freely,  the  cutoff  frequency 
sweeps  up  and  down,  creating  a 
gradual  meow-meow  effect.  When 
the  egg  hits  something,  the  cutoff 
frequency  is  set  high  and  swept  rap- 
idly downward  to  accentuate  the 
bouncing  noise.  ® 


Prisonball 


John  Scarborough 

Version  by  Kevin  Mykytyn 


Nearly  everyone  has  played  Pong  or 
Breakout,  two  computer-game  clas- 
sics. "Prisonball"  creates  an  intense, 
two-player  action  game  by  drawing 
features  from  both  of  those  games. 
Either  a  pair  of  paddles  or  two  joy- 
sticks are  required. 


"Prisonball"  is  a  two-player  action 
game  that  combines  the  best  ele- 
ments from  two  classic  computer 
games.  Pong  and  Breakout.  The  ob- 
ject of  the  game  is  simple — knock 
out  as  many  bricks  as  you  can  in  the 
allotted  time. 

Brealc  To  The  Center 

The  game  begins  by  displaying  five 
colored  walls  running  vertically 
down  the  center  of  the  screen.  Each 
player  controls  two  paddles  located 
at  the  left  and  right  sides  of  the 
screen.  Three  balls  appear  at  a  ran- 
dom location  and  start  bouncing 
around  the  screen.  When  a  ball  is 
on  your  side  of  the  screen,  move 
one  of  your  paddles  into  its  path  to 
deflect  the  ball  toward  the  walls. 
You  can  only  hit  a  ball  when  it's 
moving  toward  your  paddles  (away 
from  the  interior  walls).  Balls  trav- 
elling from  the  opposite  direction 
go  right  through  your  paddles.  If 
you  happen  to  miss  a  ball,  it  wraps 
around  the  screen  and  appears  on 
the  other  side,  giving  your  oppo- 
nent a  chance  to  score. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  game, 
all  three  balls  are  a  neutral  color. 
Each  time  you  hit  a  ball,  it  changes 


to  the  color  of  your  paddle.  You 
score  whenever  a  ball  of  your  color 
hits  one  of  the  five  interior  walls. 
The  score  depends  on  which  wall 
you  hit.  The  center  wall  is  the  hard- 
est to  reach,  so  it  yields  the  most 
points.  The  two  intermediate  walls 
are  worth  less  than  the  center  wall. 
The  outermost  walls  are  easiest  to 
hit  and  score  the  fewest  points. 

Every  time  a  ball  hits  one  of  the 
walls,  a  brick  is  knocked  out  of  the 
wall  at  the  point  of  impact.  By  aim- 
ing your  shots  carefully,  you  can 
bore  a  path  through  a  wall  and 
move  a  ball  into  the  interior  space 
between  two  walls.  When  this  hap- 
pens, the  ball  bounces  wildly  back 
and  forth  between  the  walls,  scor- 
ing many  points  in  a  short  time. 

An  additional  bit  of  strategy 
has  to  do  with  the  redrawing  of 
walls.  Whenever  a  wall  has  been 
destroyed,  it  is  immediately  re- 
drawn. Some  of  the  highest  scores 
result  when  you  trap  one  or  more 
balls  behind  a  wall  when  it  is  re- 
drawn. Since  the  wall  is  new,  the 
trapped  balls  may  hit  it  many  times 
before  they  break  back  out  to  the 
exterior. 

Either  joysticks  or  paddles  can 
be  used  to  play  this  game.  To  play 
with  paddles,  plug  a  pair  of  paddles 
into  port  2.  Each  game  lasts  for 
three  minutes.  The  screen  border 
flashes  briefly  as  a  warning  when 
only  20  seconds  remain  on  the  timer. 
Bricks  from  the  center  wall  are 
worth  30  points,  those  from  the  two 
adjacent  walls  are  worth  20,  and 
the  outermost  bricks  each  score  10 
points.  ® 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette    27 


Quickchange 


You'll  need  a  good  strategy  and  fast 
reaction  time  to  succeed  in  this  mind 
boggier.  Three  games  in  one  for  the 
Commodore  64.  A  joystick  is  required. 


Are  you  ready  for  a  challenge? 
"Quickchange" — three  games  in 
one — requires  logical  thinking, 
manual  dexterity,  and  a  good  strat- 
egy. If  you  work  quickly  and  stay 
cool,  you  should  be  able  to  survive 
for  a  few  rounds.  None  of  the 
games  is  easy  to  master.  The  three 
games  use  the  same  board  and  have 
the  same  basic  format,  but  each  has 
a  different  twist. 

Use  the  command  LOAD 
"QU1CKCHANGE",8,1  to  load  the 
program.  When  it's  finished  load- 
ing, enter  SYS  49152.  Be  sure  to 
have  a  joystick  plugged  into  port  2. 

You're  first  presented  a  menu 
with  a  selection  of  three  games:  Flip 
Flop,  Missing  Pieces,  and  No  Turn- 
ing Back.  Move  the  arrow  with  your 
joystick  to  select  a  game,  and  press 
the  fire  button  to  start.  It  is  suggest- 
ed that  you  start  with  Flip  Flop  and 
progress  to  No  Turning  Back. 

Flip  Flop 

The  playing  field  is  a  120-square 
grid,  8  rows  by  15  columns.  You're 
represented  by  the  black  circle 
starting  at  the  center  of  the  grid. 
Eight  black  pieces,  one  in  each  row, 
start  at  the  left  and  move  across  the 
grid.  Each  moves  at  a  different  rate 
of  speed  to  the  far  right  edge  and 
then  returns,  and  so  on.  Contact 
with  one  of  the  black  squares  costs 
one  player  (you  begin  with  three). 
The  object  of  the  game  is  to 
move  your  piece  around  the  grid 
and  change  the  color  of  all  the 
squares  from  pink  to  blue  (different 
colors  in  successive  levels)  while 


Kevin  Mykytyn  and  Mark  Tuttle 

avoiding  the  moving  black  squares. 
And  all  this  must  be  accomplished 
in  60  seconds.  Moving  into  one 
square  instantly  reverses  its  color. 
It's  important  that  you  choose  your 
course  carefully.  Backtracking  over 
blue  squares  changes  them  back  to 
pink.  When  you  complete  the  grid 
(change  all  squares  to  blue)  within 
the  allotted  time,  you  advance  to 
the  next  level.  For  each  successive 
level,  the  speed  of  the  black  squares 
increases.  It  doesn't  get  any  easier. 

One  point  is  awarded  for  each 
square  you  flip  to  blue.  However, 
once  a  square  is  flipped,  you  do  not 
receive  any  additional  points  for 
flipping  it  again.  You  lose  a  point 
for  changing  a  square  to  the  wrong 
color  and  gain  back  the  point  when 
it's  changed  back  to  the  right  color, 
so  your  score  can  move  up  and 
down.  You  receive  100  bonus 
points  for  each  level  completed. 
Throughout  the  game,  current 
score,  high  score,  current  level,  time 
remaining,  and  number  of  players 
remaining  are  displayed.  The  game 
can  be  paused  at  any  time  by  press- 
ing SHIFT  or  SHIFT  LOCK.  Release 
it  to  resume  play.  The  game  is  over 
when  you've  used  all  three  players 
or  when  time  runs  out. 

Missing  Pieces 

The  play  in  this  game  is  nearly 
identical  to  Flip  Flop.  But  there's  a 
twist.  Several  pieces — randomly 
selected  each  time  you  play — are 
removed,  thus  creating  empty 
spaces — holes.  If  you  happen  to 
leap  into  one  while  hurrying  along, 
you  lose  one  of  your  players.  Un- 
fortunately, the  black  squares  are 
unaffected  by  these  empty  spaces. 
They  move  through  them  as  if  they 
weren't  there. 

The  scoring  and  rules  from  Flip 
Flop  apply  to  Missing  Pieces. 


No  Turning  Back 

This  is  the  most  exciting — and  most 
difflcult — of  the  games.  The  play- 
ing board  is  the  same  as  Flip  Flop, 
but  the  object  of  the  game  is  differ- 
ent. Once  you  move  away  from  a 
square,  it's  erased.  The  goal  is  to 
eliminate  the  squares  (you  are  cred- 
ited with  clearing  the  board  if  three 
or  fewer  remain). 

Moving  into  an  empty  space  is 
not  allowed.  But,  unlike  Missing 
Pieces,  the  black  squares  cannot 
move  into  the  voids.  They'll  reverse 
direction  if  they  encounter  one  of 
these  spaces.  This  can  be  used  to 
your  advantage.  You  can  cut  off  a 
black  square  by  removing  the 
squares  horizontally  adjacent  to  it. 
This  will  erase  a  black  square  and 
free  up  an  entire  row.  For  each 
black  square  removed,  100  points 
are  added  to  your  score  (plus  1 
point  for  the  space  previously  occu- 
pied by  the  black  square). 

This  game  is  trickier  than  the 
others.  In  haste,  it's  easy  to  isolate 
your  own  player.  Remember,  the 
object  is  to  eliminate  the  squares, 
and  you  can't  enter  a  voided  space. 
Also,  be  aware  that  when  you  lose  a 
player — provided  it's  not  your 
last — your  next  player  is  positioned 
in  the  center  of  the  screen.  If  there 
are  no  available  pieces  adjacent  to 
the  center,  you've  eliminated  your- 
self from  the  game. 

There's  A  Way  To  Win 

The  key  to  success  in  each  of  these 
games  is  to  find  the  right  pattern. 
There  are  several  that  will  work.  If 
you  randomly  move  around  the 
maze,  you'll  find  that  although  you 
can  accumulate  points,  you'll  prob- 
ably run  out  of  time. 

Quickchange  may  be  played 
competitively  for  highest  score  or 
just  for  the  challenge  of  completing 
a  level  or  two.  ® 


28     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Saloon  Shootout 


David  Hensley,  Jr.  and  Kevin  Mykytyn 


You'll  have  your  hands  full  in  this 
action-packed,  arcade-style  game.  It's 
one  of  the  most  challenging  and 
graphically  charming  games  we've 
published.  For  the  Commodore  64, 
Plus/4,  and  16.  A  joystick  is  required. 


If  you're  a  sure-shot,  dead-eye,  trig- 
ger-happy gunslinger,  you'll  be 
suited  to  this  wild  and  woolly  ac- 
tion game.  In  "Saloon  Shootout," 
the  pace  is  frantic  and  it  never  slows 
up.  The  object  of  the  game  is  to 
accumulate  the  highest  number  of 
points  before  time  runs  out  or 
before  you  run  out  of  bullets. 

Of  Mice  And  Mugs 

There's  a  lot  to  contend  with  in 
Saloon  Shootout.  A  gun,  which  ap- 
pears on  the  bar,  is  your  weapon. 
It's  controlled  by  your  joystick 
(plugged  into  port  2).  By  moving 
the  joystick  up  and  down,  you  con- 
trol the  distance  your  bullet  travels. 
You'll  notice  the  gun  barrel  shift  up 
and  down  as  you  move  the  joystick. 
Also,  an  arrow  on  the  right  of  the 
screen  will  help  you  gauge  the  dis- 
tance your  shot  will  fire. 

A  main  objective  of  the  game  is 
to  shoot  as  many  mugs  as  you  can 
before  they  fall  off  the  bar.  For 
every  ten  of  these  you  shoot,  a  run- 
ning mouse  appears.  Each  time  you 
shoot  this  critter,  you  receive  a  bo- 
nus score  and  it  reverses  direction 
and  speeds  up.  Every  time  you  hit 
him,  the  point  total  escalates  and  so 


does  his  speed.  {This  is  where  you 
can  get  a  lot  of  points  for  those 
potential  high  scores.) 

This  may  sound  pretty  easy  so 
far,  but  your  job  at  the  saloon  is 
much  more  complicated.  You  must 
also  keep  your  eye  on  the  three 
windows  on  the  back  wall  of  the 
saloon.  They're  sometimes  opened 
by  a  masked  desperado  who  will 
steal  ten  of  your  bullets  unless  you 
shoot  him  before  he  disappears.  But 
don't  be  too  hasty — sometimes 
good  guys  appear  (the  good  guys 
smile),  and  shooting  them  results  in 
a  stiff  penalty^lOO  points  sub- 
tracted from  your  score.  If  your  sup- 
ply of  bullets  is  running  low,  you 
can  replenish  them  by  shooting  the 
cards  that  appear  on  top  of  the 
player  piano.  However,  you  must 
shoot  the  cards  in  order:  10,  J,  Q,  K, 
and  A.  Be  careful  here — one  card 
hit  out  of  order  will  reshuffle  the 
deck  and  you'll  have  to  start  over. 
Now  you  can  see  that  this  is  no 
simple  task. 

There  are  a  few  features  that 
help  to  calm  your  nerves,  however. 
If  you  reach  a  score  of  500,  you 
receive  a  bonus  time  of  50  seconds. 
To  help  you  keep  track  of  the  time 
remaining,  the  screen  flashes  when 
there  are  25  seconds  left.  As  noted 
above,  the  arrow  on  the  right  side 
of  the  screen  helps  make  sure  that 
those  valuable  bullets  you're  shoot- 
ing are  not  wasted.  And  finally,  the 
player  piano  cranks  out  ragtime 
tunes  to  help  relieve  the  tension.  To 


change  the  tune,  shoot  one  of  the 
white  keys  on  the  player  piano.  To 
turn  the  music  off,  shoot  a  white 
key  twice. 

Gome  Strategy 

When  the  game  first  runs,  you  have 
a  few  seconds  before  the  mugs  start 
to  appear.  It's  wise  to  use  this  time 
to  shoot  a  few  of  the  cards  (in  order, 
as  we  mentioned)  in  case  your  bul- 
lets run  low  during  the  game.  Try  to 
make  the  mouse  appear  as  many 
times  as  possible  to  receive  higher 
scores.  When  it  appears,  try  to 
shoot  it  as  many  times  as  possible. 
Unless  your  bullet  count  is  high,  it's 
a  good  idea  to  set  your  sights  on  the 
windows  as  they  start  to  open.  And 
remember  to  keep  an  eye  on  your 
bullet  supply  and  the  time 
remaining. 

To  play  Saloon  Shootout,  load 
the  program  using  the  format  LOAD 
"SALOON",8,l  Start  the  game  by 
typing  SYS  10240  and  pressing 
RETURN. 


Statistics  And  Point  Totals 

Time: 

2  minutes 

Bullets: 

35 

Scoring 

Mugs: 

Missed  mugs: 
Cards: 

10 

-5 
10 

Back  of  card: 

-10 

Good  guy: 
Bad  guy: 
Mouse: 

-100 

25 
20,40,60,80,100 

6 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     29 


"Props"  is  a  fast-paced,  nonviolent 
game  for  the  6i  with  six  levels.  Ani- 
mated in  machine  language,  it  uses 
all  eight  sprites,  programmed  charac- 
ters, and  all  three  SID  voices  for 
sound  effects. 

Included  in  the  article  is  a  de- 
tailed program  discussion  which  of- 
fers a  variety  of  excellent 
programming  tips  and  techniques. 


You  are  a  lonely  pigeon,  lost  in  a 
dangerous  sky  filled  with  whirling 
propellers.  Your  mission  is  to  return 
to  your  coop  and  your  mate,  for  a 
brief  rest  before  flying  away  again. 
To  make  matters  worse,  every  time 
you  leave,  and  at  other  uncertain 
intervals,  your  mate  moves  to  a 
new  coop. 

While  in  flight,  you  must  avoid 
getting  pulled  into  the  propellers.  If 
that  happens,  you  lose  points.  Un- 
less you  escape  quickly,  the  props 
may  pull  you  back  again  and  again. 
The  props  start  in  orderly  forma- 
tion, but  every  collision  will  bump 
one  out  of  line;  so  the  worse  you 
play,  the  more  confusing  things  get. 

To  play,  plug  your  joystick  into 
port  2.  The  six  skill  levels  range 
from  leisurely  to  manic.  Whenever 
you  reach  home,  your  score  is  dis- 
played briefly.  If  you  press  the  fire 
button  during  the  score  display,  the 
game  pauses  to  let  you  catch  your 
breath.  During  the  pause,  you  can 
change  to  a  different  skill  level  by 
pressing  number  keys  1  through  6. 
To  quit,  just  pause  and  press  the  0 
key.  If  you  score  well  at  any  given 


Props 


Philip  I.  Nelson 


level,  the  game  pauses  by  itself  and 
lets  you  pick  a  new  skill  level. 

The  Animation  Subroutines 

Two  main  machine  language  (ML) 
routines  are  responsible  for  virtual- 
ly all  the  animation.  The  first  one 
reads  the  joystick,  moves  your  bird 
shape  accordingly,  and  flaps  the 
wings  of  both  birds.  The  second 
rotates  the  eight  propeller  sprites 
and  moves  them  up  or  down.  Two 
additional  small  routines  help  pro- 
gram a  new  character  set  and  fill 
color  memory  with  white  values  for 
the  new-ROM  64s. 

Let's  look  first  at  the  bird- 
moving  routine  (Birdmove),  which 
you  could  adapt  for  just  about  any 
graphics  game.  Birdmove  animates 
our  bird-shaped  character.  The  rou- 
tine keeps  track  of  a  variable,  BIRD- 
LOC,  that  represents  the  bird's 
current  screen  location.  To  move 
the  bird  around  in  screen  memory 
(locations  1024-2023),  first  we  put 
a  blank  space  into  BIRDLOC  to 
erase  the  character. 

Next  we  check  to  see  whether 
any  movement  has  been  requested 
through  the  joystick.  If  so,  we 
change  the  BIRDLOC  variable  to 
represent  the  new  screen  location. 
If  not,  BIRDLOC  stays  the  same.  In 
either  case,  we  then  plant  a  new 
bird  shape  in  the  updated  BIRD- 
LOC screen  location. 

Setting  The 
Bird's  Boundaries 

To  move  the  bird  left  or  right.  Bird- 
move  will  subtract  or  add  1  to 
BIRDLOC.  To  move  the  bird  up  or 


down  on  the  40-column  screen,  we 
subtract  or  add  40  to  BIRDLOC. 
Before  moving  our  pigeon  around 
in  memory,  we  need  safeguards  to 
prevent  the  bird  figure  from  flying 
above  screen  memory  into  the 
BASIC  program  space,  or  below  it 
into  the  sensitive  zero  page  of 
memory,  either  of  which  could 
crash  the  computer. 

Birdmove  uses  two  techniques 
to  confine  the  bird.  The  first  com- 
pares BIRDLOC  to  absolute  upper 
and  lower  limits.  If  you  try  to  move 
lower  (<1024)  or  higher  (>2023) 
than  the  bounds  of  screen  memory, 
Birdmove  will  terminate  without 
changing  BIRDLOC. 

Coiiislon  Detection 

The  second  safeguard  is  a  collision- 
checker  for  sideways  movement. 
When  you  move  left,  for  example, 
Birdmove  holds  the  updated  BIRD- 
LOC position  in  temporary  storage. 
Before  it  moves  a  bird  figure  into 
the  new  location,  the  routine 
checks  that  spot  to  see  which  of  the 
three  possible  characters  is  there. 

If  the  desired  spot  contains  a 
space,  your  bird  can  move  left.  If 
the  new  spot  holds  the  coop  charac- 
ter, the  old  BIRDLOC  is  restored 
and  you  exit  Birdmove  without 
changing  position.  If  neither  char- 
acter is  found,  then  the  spot  must 
contain  the  mate  character,  so  the 
routine  sets  a  flag  to  show  that  the 
bird  has  reached  home,  and  ends 
with  the  wing-flapping  display. 

To  modify  Birdmove  for  your 
own  games,  just  add  more  compari- 
sons to  check  for  as  many  possibili- 


30     Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


ties  as  you  need.  For  example,  your 
game  might  check  the  desired  loca- 
tion and  then  branch  to  appropriate 
routines  to  score  if  you've  hit  a 
treasure,  faint  if  you've  Hit  a  troll, 
rejoice  if  you've  bumped  into  a 
friend,  and  so  on. 

The  Joystick  Flags 

The  joystick  reader  at  the  front  of 
Birdmove  is  from  the  Commodore  64 
Programmer's  Reference  Guide.  It 
will  store  flag  values  in  a  memory 
location  which  you  can  then  PEEK 
to  determine  movement.  In  "Props," 
the  joystick  flag  values  are  in  the 
cassette  buffer,  but  you  could  put 
them  in  any  safe  memory  spot.  The 
right/left  flag  is  stored  in  location 
832,  and  the  up/down  flag  in  833. 
The  value  in  832  will  be  255  for  left, 
1  for  right,  and  0  for  no  movement. 
The  value  in  833  will  be  255  for  up, 
1  for  down,  and  0  for  no  movement. 
Note  that  leftover  flag  values  will 
remain  in  the  computer's  X  and  Y 
registers,  though,  so  if  your  ML 
program  goes  from  this  routine  to 
one  that  uses  indirect  addressing, 
you  should  clear  the  X  and  Y  regis- 
ters to  0  to  keep  things  straight. 

Programmed  characters  are 
used  to  make  the  birds'  wings  flap. 
In  lines  62000-63000  of  Props,  we 
first  copy  the  character  set  from  the 
ROM  chip  into  RAM  memory  be- 
ginning at  location  14336.  Then  we 
create  new  shapes  for  characters 
90-96  by  POKEing  new  values  into 
the  right  places  in  our  RAM  charac- 
ter set.  Character  90  is  programmed 
to  serve  as  our  coop  character,  and 
the  other  six  are  a  series  of  bird 
shapes. 

Each  time  we  call  the  Bird- 
move  routine,  we  also  flip  to  the 
next  character  in  this  v^ing- flapping 
series  to  create  the  illusion  of  move- 
ment. To  see  all  the  programmed 
characters,  first  RUN  the  program 
and  then  press  the  STOP  key  while 
the  instructions  are  displayed.  Hold 
down  the  SHIFT  key  and  press 
CLR/HOME  to  blank  the  screen. 
Now  type  in  this  line.  You'll  have  to 
use  abbreviations  to  fit  it  all  on  two 
lines. 

PRINT"{CLR}"TAB(255):  K  =  90:FORJ= 
1024TO1276STEP42:POKE54272  + 
J,l:POKEJ,K:K  =  K  +  1:NEXTJ 

Press  RETURN  and  you'll  see  the 
coop  character  and  six  bird  shapes 
in  the  upper  left  of  the  screen. 


Flapping  From  BASIC 

Now  let's  make  our  bird  flap  its 
wings  from  BASIC  in  immediate 
mode.  Type  this  line  and  then  press 
RETURN: 

FORK  =  ITOlOOOOOiFORJ  -  91T096:POKE 
1024,J:FORL  =  1T030:NEXTL,J,K 

The  bird  should  be  flapping  at  top 
left.  Press  STOP  when  you've  seen 
enough.  While  we're  at  it,  let's  to 
the  same  job  with  our  ML  routine. 
To  set  things  up,  type  this  line  and 
press  RETURN. 

POKE251,0:POKE252,4:POKE834,91 

This  puts  information  in  memory 
locations  which  the  ML  routine 
uses  to  position  the  bird  and  start 
the  wing-flapping  character  series. 
Now  type  this  line  and  press 
RETURN: 

FOR)  =  1T0100000:S  YS49608:FORK  = 
1T030:NEXTK,J 

Using  The 
Routine's  Modules 

As  before,  press  STOP  when 
you've  seen  enough.  The  entire 
Birdmove  routine  starts  at  location 
49408  in  memory,  with  its  flap  por- 
tion toward  the  end  of  the  routine 
(49608).  At  certain  points  during 
Props  (the  reunion  or  a  pause),  we 
want  the  birds  to  flap  their  wings 
without  moving.  So  we  just  bypass 
the  movement  parts  entirely,  start- 
ing at  location  49608.  If  all  we  want 
is  to  place  the  mate  somewhere, 
without  any  moving  or  flapping, 
we  can  jump  in  even  later,  at  49615. 
By  structuring  our  ML  program  in 
distinct  modules,  we're  able  to  get 
maximum  use  out  of  what  we've 
written. 

Now  let's  call  the  whole  Bird- 
move  routine  to  let  our  bird  fly  free. 
First,  type  this  line  and  press 
RETURN. 

POKE834,91:POKE835,0:POKE836,4: 
POKE837,230:POKE838,6:POKE251, 
255:POKE252,5 

We  just  positioned  the  bird  and  set 
limits  to  keep  it  on  the  screen.  Now 
enter  this  as  one  line. 

PRINT"{ CLR I  ":FORJ -  1024TO2008 
STEP41:POKEJ,90:POKEJ  +  54272,1: 
NEXT:FORJ  =  lTO100000:SYS49408: 
NEXT 

You'll  see  the  bird  wrap  around 
the  side  of  the  screen  when  its  way 
is  clear,  but  stop  when  it  hits  a  coop 
character.  The  up-and-down  move- 


ment routine  contains  no  collision- 
checker,  though,  so  moving  in 
those  directions  will  erase  any  char- 
acter you  encounter. 

Vary  The  Difficulty  With 
Delay  Loops 

Running  at  full  ML  speed.  Bird- 
move  is  fun  to  play  with,  but  too 
fast  to  be  practical.  Props  uses  a 
variable  delay  loop  (pegged  to  skill 
level)  to  slow  things  down  to  a 
manageable  speed. 

Spritemove,  the  second  big  ML 
routine  in  Props,  handles  the  sprite 
animation,  moving  the  eight  pro- 
pellers up  or  down  at  the  correct 
speed  and  twirling  them  in  unison. 

Look  at  lines  2-6  of  Props  and 
you'll  see  something  odd.  The 
game  works  by  cycling  through 
these  lines,  calling  the  Birdmove 
routine  over  and  over  with  the 
statement  SYS  49408.  But  Sprite- 
move  is  called  only  once  {SYS 
49152)  in  line  1,  while  we're  setting 
things  up.  Yet  the  sprites  move  con- 
tinuously as  long  as  we're  playing. 
How  can  we  make  Spritemove 
work  all  the  time  without  calling  it 
repeatedly?  Easy — just  let  the  com- 
puter do  it  along  v«th  its  other 
housekeeping. 

Harnessing  The 
Hardware  Interrupt 

In  addition  to  executing  your  pro- 
grams, your  computer's  processor 
chip  has  continual  housekeeping  to 
do  like  updating  timers  and  scan- 
ning the  keyboard.  But  it  can  do 
only  one  thing  at  a  time.  So  occa- 
sionally the  computer  stops  doing 
your  work  and  takes  time  out  for  its 
own.  You  never  notice  these  inter- 
rupts, because  they  happen  about 
60  times  every  second. 

Like  Birdmove,  the  64's  hard- 
A'are  interrupt  rouHne  is  just  anoth- 
er ML  program,  starting  at  location 
59953  ($EA31)  in  memory.  By 
changing  one  pointer  (vector),  we 
can  have  the  computer  perform  our 
ML  routine  first,  then  on  to  do  its 
housekeeping  as  usual — 60  times  a 
second. 

Memory  locations  788-789 
($0314-0315)  are  specially  re- 
served to  hold  the  address  where 
this  interrupt  routine  begins.  When 
you  turn  on  your  64,  it  automatical- 
ly sticks  the  normal  (default)  ad- 
dress in  these  locations.  The  first 


Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette    31 


part  of  Spritemove  just  changes  this 
vector  to  point  the  computer  to  the 
beginning  of  our  ML  program. 

At  the  end  of  our  ML  routine, 
we  send  the  computer  on  to  its 
normal  interrupt  program  at 
$EA31,  rather  than  returning  to  the 
program  as  we  do  in  a  conventional 
ML  subroutine. 

Watch  It  In  Isolation 

Such  an  inlerrupt-driven  ML  rou- 
tine will  seem  to  run  independent 
of  BASIC.  To  watch  Spritemove  in 
isolation,  first  RUN  Props  and  press 
the  STOP  key  when  the  props 
move.  You'll  see  the  blinking  cursor 
and  READY  signal,  which  shows 
the  computer  has  quit  executing  our 
BASIC  program.  We're  back  in 
BASIC  immediate  mode,  but  Sprite- 
move  is  still  working  along  with  the 
interrupts,  so  our  graphics  and 
sound  keep  going. 

We  can  do  anything  we'd  nor- 
mally do  from  BASIC,  even  call 
other  ML  subroutines  as  we  did  in 
the  examples  above,  but  there's  a 
limit  to  how  far  we  can  take  this 
technique.  Grafting  a  lengthy  ML 
routine  onto  our  interrupts  will 
make  those  "time-outs"  so  long 
that  they  slow  our  BASIC  opera- 
tions down  to  a  crawl. 

To  stop  Spritemove,  first  clear 
the  screen  of  character  graphics  by 
holding  down  SHIFT  and  pressing 
CLR/HOME.  Now  type  SYS49152 
and  press  RETURN.  The  props  and 
sound  should  freeze. 

To  restart  the  props,  move 
your  cursor  up  to  the  same  line  and 
press  RETURN  again.  The  interrupt 
vector  now  points  to  Spritemove 
again,  and  we're  back  in  business. 
Spritemove  is  designed  to  alter- 
nately change  and  restore  the  inter- 
rupt vector,  every  time  we  call  the 
routine,  letting  us  turn  it  on  or  off  at 
will. 

Ttie  Sprites  Are  Still  Ttiere 

Note  that  stopping  Spritemove 
doesn't  erase  the  sprites.  If  we  want 
them  to  disappear  at  certain  points 
in  Props,  we  have  to  disable  their 
display  with  the  statement  POKE 
SP-l-21,0.  When  that's  done,  the 
sprites  are  all  still  moving  in  the 
sense  that  Spritemove  keeps  chang- 
ing their  location  registers  and 
shape  pointers  as  always.  But  none 
of  this  is  visible  since  we've  com- 


manded the  computer  not  to  show 
it  on  the  screen. 

Compared  to  the  interrupt  rou- 
tine, the  rest  of  Spritemove  is  sim- 
ple. The  BASIC  setup  portion  of 
Props  sets  all  eight  sprites  to  fixed 
horizontal  locations,  giving  each  a 
track  to  run  up  or  down  in.  Each 
prop  always  flies  in  the  same  direc- 
tion— one  space  up  or  down  on  the 
sprite  grid  for  every  execution  of 
Spritemove  at  skill  level  1. 

Each  sprite  has  a  register 
(memory  location)  containing  its 
vertical  location.  To  move  the 
props,  Spritemove  increments  or 
decrements  every  vertical  location 
register  one  or  more  times,  depend- 
ing on  skill  level. 

Believe  it  or  not,  this  is  simpler 
in  ML  than  in  BASIC.  Let's  say 
sprite  1  starts  out  at  vertical  location 
100.  If  we  start  plopping  bigger  val- 
ues into  its  vertical  location  register, 
sprite  1  will  move  down  the  screen. 

Safe  Increments 
Are  Assured 

In  BASIC  we'd  have  to  program  in  a 
safeguard  to  make  sure  we  couldn't 
POKE  a  value  larger  than  255  into 
the  register,  since  that  would  abort 
our  program  with  an  ILLEGAL 
QUANTITY  error. 

But  ML  lacks  the  error- checking 
mechanics  of  BASIC,  and  simply 
won't  let  you  put  a  number  bigger 
than  255  into  any  memory  cell.  Try- 
ing to  increment  a  register  from  255 
to  256  will  just  flip  its  value  back  to 
0.  Increment  that  register  again, 
and  it'll  contain  the  value  of  1,  and 
so  on. 

The  same  thing  works  in 
reverse — decrementing  a  register 
that  contains  a  0  value  will  give  us 
the  value  of  255.  This  characteristic 
of  ML,  which  might  seem  a  limita- 
tion, is  used  to  advantage  in  Sprite- 
move,  which  just  keeps  increment- 
ing and  decrementing  the  vertical 
sprite  registers  blindly.  We  know 
ML  won't  let  us  exceed  the  safe 
0-255  range  which,  conveniently 
enough,  the  sprites  also  use  for  ver- 
tical location. 

Animating  Ttie  Propellers 

You  define  a  sprite's  shape  by 
pointing  it  to  a  block  of  shape  infor- 
mation which  you've  placed  in 
memory  beforehand.  To  rotate  the 
props,  we  just  flip  them  through  a 


series  of  related  shapes,  much  as 
the  birds  are  made  to  flap  their 
wings.  Spritemove  points  all  eight 
sprites  in  unison  to  successive  sets 
of  shape  data  which  was  stored 
when  we  set  up  Props.  Since  props 
are  bilaterally  symmetrical,  we  can 
save  memory  space  and  get  the  ef- 
fect of  an  eight-position  rotation  by 
flipping  them  repeatedly  through  a 
series  of  only  four  shapes. 

Just  as  the  computer  looks  in  a 
special  place  to  find  the  address  of 
its  interrupt  routine,  Spritemove 
checks  and  changes  a  special  spot 
for  the  current  shape  pointer,  loca- 
tion 828  (#033C). 

We've  used  other  memory  reg- 
isters in  the  cassette  buffer  to  store 
things  for  our  ML  routines.  Loca- 
tions 832  and  833  hold  values  re- 
ceived from  the  joystick,  as  we've 
seen.  Location  842  holds  the  home 
flag:  The  Birdmove  routine  will 
store  a  value  of  1  here  if  the  bird 
reaches  home;  otherwise,  the  regis- 
ter contains  a  0. 

Passing  ML  Values 
To  BASIC 

This  is  an  example  of  how  to  use 
variables  in  machine  language,  and 
pass  information  back  and  forth 
from  ML  to  BASIC  sections  of  your 
program.  In  BASIC,  of  course,  we'd 
name  a  variable  something  like 
HOME,  and  say  that  HOME  =  l 
when  home  is  reached,  making 
sure  that  HOME  =  0  at  all  other 
times.  But  ML  doesn't  recognize 
names — just  numbers  inside  mem- 
ory locations.  So,  in  Spritemove  we 
choose  a  special  memory  location 
(842)  to  represent  the  condition  of 
our  home  flag.  Then  we  store  a  1 
value  in  842  as  a  signal  whenever 
home  is  reached. 

Line  3  of  the  BASIC  program 
uses  the  PEEK  function  to  check 
that  same  memory  location 
(HM  =  842)  for  a  nonzero  value, 
branching  to  the  BASIC  "home" 
subroutine  at  line  20  if  that  condi- 
tion is  satisfied.  Once  we've  per- 
formed our  home  routine,  we  set 
the  flag  back  to  0  in  line  24,  so  that 
our  bird  can  get  lost  again. 

Synctironlzlng  Sound 
And  Action 

Props  also  creates  its  filtered  and 
ring-modulated  sound  effects  by 
passing  values  from  ML  to  BASIC. 


32    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


When  the  bird  flies  around  the 
screen,  a  soft  musical  tone  is  heard, 
changing  constantly  in  relation  to 
screen  position.  We  start  making 
this  sound  in  line  2  by  POKEing 
voice  1  on.  In  line  6  we  change  the 
pitch  of  voice  1  by  PEEKing  into 
location  251  which,  you'll  recall,  is 
used  by  Birdmove  to  store  our 
bird's  screen  location.  In  this  simple 
way,  we  can  link  the  bird's  sound 
effect  to  its  graphics  action. 

Voice  2  is  always  on  during  the 
game,  set  to  the  noise  waveform  to 
make  a  swooshing  sound.  The  ef- 
fect of  fading  in  and  out  is  created, 
not  with  the  volume  control  (which 
affects  all  three  voices  equally),  but 
with  a  filter,  which  we  can  set  to 
affect  any  or  all  of  the  voices  at  a 
given  time.  In  line  1002  of  Props  we 
POKE  register  54296  with  a  value 
of  47.  Besides  volume,  this  register 
lets  you  select  what  type  of  filter 
you  want.  So  we  started  with  a 
value  of  15  for  maximum  volume  in 
all  voices,  then  added  32  (15  +  32- 
47).  This  turns  on  bit  5  of  the  regis- 
ter to  activate  the  bandpass  filter, 
which  will  cut  out  all  but  a  narrow 
band  of  frequencies  in  the  tone  of 
the  filtered  voice. 

Next  we  have  to  tell  the  com- 
puter which  of  the  three  voices  it 
should  send  through  the  filter.  Also 
in  line  1002,  we  POKE  the  value  of 
66  into  register  54295,  which  sends 
voice  2  through  the  filter  and  selects 
a  moderate  amount  of  resonance.  (If 
you've  never  played  with  filter  reso- 
nance, try  editing  line  1002  to  sub- 
stitute the  value  of  226  instead  of  66, 
to  hear  the  more  pronounced  effect 
of  maximum  resonance.) 

A  Swoosh  Is  Filtered  Noise 

Now  the  filter's  ready  to  use.  Pick- 
ing the  noise  waveform  for  voice  2 
gives  us  a  more  or  less  random 
mishmash  of  all  audible  frequen- 
cies to  work  with.  Setting  the  cutoff 
frequency  low  will  pass  through  a 
narrow  band  of  low  frequency 
tones  for  a  roaring  or  rumbling 
sound,  and  cut  off  all  other  tones.  A 
high  cutoff  value  gives  us  a  narrow 
band  of  hissing,  high-frequency 
tones.  To  make  a  swooshing  sound, 
we  just  change  the  cutoff  frequency 
at  high  speed,  from  low  to  high 
values. 

To  tie  this  sound  to  the  graph- 
ics  action,   we   let   Spritemove 


change  the  cutoff  frequency  at  ML 
speed.  At  the  very  end  of  SPRITE- 
MOVE  is  a  little  routine  that  stores 
a  value  into  the  filter  cutoff  fre- 
quency register.  This  value  is  the 
same  one  used  to  control  how 
many  spaces  the  sprites  move  each 
1/60  second.  So  at  higher  skill  lev- 
els we  add  bigger  numbers  to  the 
cutoff  frequency  register,  to  sweep 
the  filter  from  low  to  high  more 
rapidly. 

As  with  sprite  positioning,  we 
can  increment  forever,  without 
fussing  over  illegal  quantity  errors. 
What  we  get  is  a  repeated  low-to- 
high  sweep  in  the  range  0  to  255. 

Filtering  Voice  Three 

The  echoing  synthesizer  tones 
heard  while  pausing,  or  when  the 
bird's  mate  changes  coops,  are  pro- 
duced by  applying  similar  band- 
pass filtering  to  voice  3.  The 
technique  is  the  same — we  sweep 
the  filter  cutoff  frequency  upward, 
over  and  over.  But  instead  of  noise 
we're  using  a  triangular  waveform, 
ring-modulated  by  the  pitch  fre- 
quencies of  voice  2  (line  51). 

The  pitch  of  voice  3  is  linked  to 
the  bird's  screen  position  by  using 
the  value  found  in  location  251. 
And  the  pitch  frequency  of  voice  2 
is  also  swept  down  over  and  over, 
in  our  familiar  255-to-O  range,  by 
the  Spritemove  routine. 

Unlike  the  noise  waveform, 
which  contains  tones  at  almost  ev- 
ery audible  frequency,  the  triangu- 
lar waveform  is  rich  in  certain 
harmonic  frequencies  and  totally 
lacking  in  others.  So  at  certain  fre- 
quencies the  bandpass  filter  cuts 
out  just  about  everything,  causing 
silence.  Adding  ring  modulation 
suppresses  the  fluty  tone  we'd  oth- 
erwise get  from  a  triangle  wave, 
and  adds  new  harmonics  for  an 
even  stranger  effect. 

A  Two-Voice  Sound  Effect 

One  final,  important  difference  be- 
tween this  and  the  swoosh  sound  is 
in  the  ADSR  (attack/decay/sus- 
tain/release) envelope.  For  the 
prop  sound,  we  set  voice  2's  sustain 
value  to  the  maximum  of  240  (line 
1082),  and  trigger  the  ADSR  enve- 
lope only  once  at  the  beginning 
(line  11050). 

With  maximum  sustain,  the 
tone  will  never  fade  out  naturally — 


it  only  seems  to  reach  silence  when 
our  filter  is  set  to  its  lowest  cutoff 
frequencies.  For  contrast,  we  trigger 
the  ADSR  envelope  for  voice  3  ev- 
ery time  we  make  the  synthesizer 
sound,  causing  the  slow,  ghostly 
fade-out. 

But  you  do  fancy  filtering  with- 
out mastering  ML.  Take  a  look  at 
lines  11050-11058,  which  govern 
the  animation  and  sound  of  wings 
flapping  during  the  instruction  dis- 
play. Here  we're  controlling  the  fil- 
ter frequency  from  an  entirely 
different  source. 

A  Special 
Number  Generator 

Location  54299  (VM  +  3)  is  a  very 
special  register  that  can  be  made  to 
produce  four  different  number  se- 
quences which  are  handy  for  con- 
trolling sound.  It  can  generate  a  0- 
to-255  sweep  like  we've  used  up  to 
now.  Or  it  can  sweep  from  0  up  to 
255  and  back  down  again.  It  can 
generate  random  numbers,  and  can 
also  flip  back  and  forth  from  0  to 
255  at  varying  rates. 

You  choose  zvhich  number  se- 
quence you  want  by  selecting  one 
of  the  four  waveforms  for  voice  3. 
You  control  the  rate  at  which  the 
numbers  change  within  that  se- 
quence by  setting  the  frequency  of 
voice  3. 

For  a  convincing  wing-flap- 
ping sound,  we  want  the  filter  to 
sweep  up  and  then  back  down 
again.  So  we  select  the  up-and- 
down  number  sequence  by  setting 
voice  3  to  a  value  of  16  in  line 
11050.  To  time  it  to  the  beating  of 
our  birds'  wings,  we  just  fiddle  with 
various  pitch  frequency  values  for 
voice  3  (H3  and  L3)  until  we  get  it 
right.  Note  that  you  don't  want  to 
hear  voice  3 — you're  only  using  its 
pitch  values  to  control  the  output  of 
voice  2.  So  W3  is  POKEd  to  16, 
which  selects  the  triangle  wave- 
form without  turning  on  the  gate  bit 
which  would  make  the  voice  audi- 
ble (that  is,  by  POKEing  W3  to  17). 

Once  you  have  Props  working, 
you  can  learn  a  lot  about  the  64's 
SID  chip  just  by  changing  the  val- 
ues used  in  this  and  other  sound 
sections.  ® 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette    33 


Powerball 


illiom  Chin,  Editorial  Programmer 


This  outstanding  arcade-style  game's 
moving  obstacles,  special  features, 
and  different  game  screens  will  keep 
you  thinking  and  moving  fast.  For  the 
Commodore  64.  A  joystick  is  required. 


Not  your  ordinary  version  of  Break- 
out, "Powerball"  is  an  addictive, 
multifaceted  arcade-style  game  with 
new  features  such  as  capsules  and 
slivers — and  ten  different  screens  to 
master. 

Each  Powerball  screen  is  popu- 
lated by  its  own  configuration  of 
slivers,  capsules,  and  bricks.  After  a 
few  games  you'll  begin  to  develop 
strategies  for  each  of  the  screens.  As 
in  Breakout,  the  object  of  the  game 
is  to  destroy  a  series  of  walls  brick 
by  brick.  In  Powerball,  this  can  be 
done  in  two  ways — you  may  use 
your  paddle  to  bounce  balls  against 
the  wall,  and  you  may  shoot  the 
wall  down  after  catching  a  fire  cap- 
sule. Unlike  Breakout,  you  must 
quickly  observe  the  characteristics 
of  each  type  of  screen  object  to  earn 
high  scores. 

To  play  Powerball,  enter  LOAD 
"POWERBALL",8,l.  Start  the  game 
with  SYS  49152. 

When  the  game  begins,  you'll 
see  a  paddle  in  the  center  of  the 
screen  near  the  bottom.  Below  the 
paddle  you'll  see  an  indication  of 
the  number  of  paddles  remaining, 
your  current  score,  and  the  high 
score  of  the  current  series  of  games. 
You  begin  each  game  with  four 
paddles  available  (only  one  paddle 
can  be  active  at  any  given  time, 
however).  Use  a  joystick  in  port  2  to 
move  the  paddle  left  and  right. 
Press  the  fire  button  to  release  the 
ball  and  begin  play. 

Blasting  Bricks 

Your  main  weapon  against  the 
bricks  is  the  bouncing  ball.  Use  your 
paddle  to  keep  the  ball  in  motion. 
You'll  lose  a  paddle  whenever  a  ball 


gets  past  you  to  the  bottom  of  the 
screen.  The  game  ends  when  all 
paddles  have  been  lost.  When  all 
breakable  bricks  on  the  current  level 
have  been  eliminated,  you  advance 
to  the  next  level.  When  you  lose  all 
your  paddles,  you  are  not  automati- 
cally dumped  back  to  the  first  level. 
Instead,  you  can  press  the  fire  but- 
ton to  start  a  new  game  at  the  cur- 
rent level.  You  can  press  SHIFT  at 
any  time  to  pause  the  game.  (Use 
SHIFT-LOCK  for  longer  pauses.) 

Bricks  come  in  three  varieties: 
soft,  hard,  and  sohd.  Soft  bricks  are 
green  and  are  destroyed  by  being 
shot  or  by  being  hit  by  a  ball.  Hard 
bricks  start  out  gray  and  change 
color  each  time  they  are  hit.  They 
must  be  turned  green  before  they 
can  be  destroyed.  Solid  bricks  are 
white.  They  can  be  destroyed  only 
by  a  power  ball.  However,  it's  not 
necessary  to  destroy  all  the  white 
bricks  to  advance  to  the  next  round. 

Slivers  And  Capsules 

Slivers  and  capsules  are  the  special 
features  that  distingush  Powerball 
from  most  other  games  of  its  type. 
Slivers  are  small  flashing  objects 
that  change  color  as  they  float 
around  the  screen.  Balls  bounce  off 
the  slivers.  This  can  be  helpful  at 
times  (to  deflect  a  descending  ball), 
but,  in  general,  slivers  do  more 
damage  than  good.  Touching  a  sliv- 
er with  your  paddle  sends  the  sliver 
to  the  top  of  the  screen  where  it  is 
least  dangerous.  There  is  no  way  to 
permanently  destroy  a  sliver. 

Capsules  are  the  same  shape  as 
your  paddle.  They  appear  at  ran- 
dom times  and  at  random  locations 
near  the  top  of  the  screen,  and  then 
descend  vertically  down  the  screen. 
Touching  a  capsule  with  your  pad- 
dle gives  the  paddle  a  special  ability 
depending  on  the  color  of  the  cap- 
sule. (If  you're  using  a  monochrome 
display,  each  type  of  capsule  also 
has  a  distinguishing  label.)  Below  is 


a  list  of  the  capsule  types  and  their 
corresponding  powers: 


Label 

Color 

Power 

S 

yellow 

slows  down  all  balls 

C 

green 

paddle  catches  ball 

L 

blue 

paddle  becomes  longer 

F 

red 

paddle  fires 

P 

purple 

ball  becomes  power  ball 

3 

It.  blue 

ball  splits  into  three  balls 

• 

gray 

extra  paddle 

N 

orange 

go  to  next  screen 

A  standard  paddle  with  no 
special  powers  is  white.  When  a 
capsule  is  touched,  the  paddle  takes 
on  the  color  of  the  capsule  to  indi- 
cate its  current  power.  A  paddle  can 
have  only  one  power  at  a  time;  the 
previous  power  is  lost  each  time  a 
new  capsule  is  touched.  The  special 
power  is  also  canceled  when  the 
paddle  is  lost. 

A  few  notes  about  the  powers: 
When  you've  caught  the  green  C 
capsule,  your  paddle  will  capture 
the  ball  so  that  you  can  reposition 
the  paddle  for  an  accurate  shot. 
Press  fire  to  release  the  ball.  If  you 
wait  too  long  (about  three  seconds), 
the  ball  will  be  released  automati- 
cally. The  purple  P  capsule  turns 
the  balls  into  power  balls,  which 
destroy  all  types  of  bricks.  After 
you  capture  a  red  F  capsule,  your 
paddle  has  the  power  to  fire  darts  at 
the  bricks  as  well  as  to  deflect  the 
ball.  Press  the  fire  button  to  shoot 
the  darts.  The  light  blue  3  capsule 
splits  the  ball  into  three  individual 
balls  (but  only  once  each  time  one 
of  these  capsules  is  touched — you'll 
never  get  more  than  three  balls). 
The  split  balls  behave  the  same  as 
the  original  ball,  except  that  you 
don't  lose  a  paddle  until  all  three  of 
the  split  balls  have  slipped  past  to 
the  bottom  of  the  screen.  The  gray  * 
capsule  adds  an  extra  paddle  to 
your  total  when  touched.  Touching 
an  orange  N  capsule  takes  you  to 
the  next  level,  regardless  of  how 
many  bricks  remain  on  the  current 
level.  The  gray  *  and  the  orange  N 
capsules  are  rare.  ® 


34     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Laser  Beam 


This  fast-paced  arcade  game  is  writ- 
ten entirely  in  machine  language  and 
challenges  the  quickest  reflexes.  A 
joystick  is  required. 


"Laser  Beam"  is  a  fast-action 
arcade-style  game  with  a  simple 
premise — you  score  by  moving. 
The  more  you  move,  the  more  you 
score.  The  object  is  to  avoid  several 
bouncing  balls  until  just  the  right 
moment  when  you  must  grab  them 
and  stuff  them  into  a  basket. 

To  get  started,  plug  a  joystick 
into  port  2  and  type  LOAD'XASER 
BEAM",8,1.  Then  type  SYS  49152 
and  press  RETURN. 

The  Highlight  Zone 

Move  the  joystick  up  or  down  to 
select  the  difficulty  level — 0  is  the 
slowest  and  9  is  the  fastest  (in  fact, 
9  is  so  fast  that  it's  almost  unplay- 
able). The  game  starts  when  you 
press  the  fire  button. 

Immediately  you'll  see  seven 
colored  bails  bouncing  around  the 
screen.  At  the  left  is  a  highlighted 
"safe  zone"  occupied  by  a  small 
stick  figure — that's  you.  By  moving 
the  joystick,  you  can  maneuver 
your  figure  around  the  screen.  But  if 
you  venture  out  of  the  safe  zone 
and  bump  into  a  bouncing  ball, 
you're  zapped.  (You  get  three  lives 
per  game,  as  indicated  by  the  fig- 
ures at  the  bottom  of  the  screen.) 

Your  goal  is  to  render  the  balls 
harmless,  grab  them  one  by  one, 
and  drop  them  into  the  basket  in 
the  lower-right  corner.  To  make  a 
ball  safe  to  touch,  you  have  to  shoot 
it  with  the  laser  gun.  The  laser  is 
visible  along  the  edge  of  the  screen. 
To  control  it,  first  you  must  move 
your  figure  into  the  uppermost  cor- 
ner of  the  safe  zone.  The  laser  gun  is 


Mike  Greenfield 

Version  by  Kevin  Mykytyn 

under  your  control  only  when  your 
figure  is  at  this  spot.  Pushing  the 
joystick  to  the  right  moves  the  laser 
clockwise  around  the  edge  of  the 
screen,  and  pushing  the  joystick  to 
the  left  moves  the  laser  counter- 
clockwise around  the  screen.  Press 
the  fire  button  to  activate  the  beam. 
If  you  push  the  joystick  in  any  other 
direction,  you'll  move  your  figure 
away  from  the  top  of  the  safe  zone, 
and  the  laser  gun  will  no  longer  be 
under  your  control. 

Now,  you  can't  shoot  just  any 
bouncing  ball  with  the  laser  to 
make  it  safe  to  grab.  You  have  to 
shoot  the  ball  which  matches  the 
border  color  of  the  screen.  As  soon 
as  you  hit  the  ball,  it  turns  white. 
Then  you  can  maneuver  your  figure 
out  of  the  safe  zone,  grab  the  white 
ball  by  touching  it,  carry  it  to  the 
basket,  and  drop  it  in  by  pressing 
the  fire  button.  Afterward  you  must 
scurry  back  to  the  safe  zone  before 
a  collision  with  another  ball. 

For  example,  let's  say  the  bor- 
der color  is  red.  First  you  move  your 
figure  to  the  top  of  the  safe  zone  to 
take  control  of  the  laser  gun.  Next 
you  push  the  joystick  right  or  left  to 
aim  the  laser  at  the  red  ball.  When 
you  have  a  clear  shot,  press  the  fire 
button  to  shoot  the  beam.  If  you 
score  a  hit,  the  red  ball  turns  white. 
Then  you  can  push  the  joystick  in 
another  direction  to  move  your  fig- 
ure out  of  the  safe  zone.  Grab  the 
ball,  stuff  it  into  the  basket  by 
pressing  the  fire  button,  and  make 
your  escape — all  while  avoiding 
the  other  bouncing  balls,  of  course. 
If  you  succeed,  the  border  color 
changes  to  correspond  to  one  of  the 
remaining  balls. 

You  continue  with  the  process 
until  all  the  balls  are  safely  dropped 
into  the  basket.  Then  another  round 
begins. 


Bouncing  Chaos 

Sounds  simple,  right?  Well,  it's  not. 
There  are  a  few  complications.  Sup- 
pose you  fire  the  laser  and  hit  a 
bouncing  ball  that  doesn't  match  the 
border  color.  It  turns  white,  too.  But 
it  isn't  safe  to  grab.  If  you  touch  it, 
you're  zapped.  This  becomes  a  real 
problem  when  you  accidentally 
shoot  several  of  the  balls  and  turn 
them  white.  Only  one  of  them  is 
safe,  and  you  have  to  remember 
which  one.  It's  not  easy  when  three 
or  more  white  balls  are  bopping  all 
over  the  place. 

There  is  an  incentive  for  creat- 
ing this  chaos,  however.  The  num- 
ber of  points  you  get  for  dropping  a 
ball  in  the  basket  doubles  for  each 
white  ball  on  the  screen.  If  the  only 
white  ball  is  the  one  you're  grab- 
bing, you  get  only  5  points.  If  a 
second  ball  is  white,  you  get  10 
points;  if  a  third  ball  is  white,  you 
get  20  points;  and  so  on.  If  all  seven 
balls  are  white  when  you  drop  the 
first  one  into  the  basket,  you  score 
320  points. 

Another  complication  is  that 
your  safe  zone  doesn't  always  stay 
safe  for  very  long.  After  you  shoot 
the  ball  that  matches  the  border 
color,  it  begins  shrinking  from  the 
bottom  up.  If  you  don't  hurry  out, 
you'll  get  zapped. 

And  there's  yet  another  reason 
to  move  quickly:  If  you  finish  a 
round  by  dropping  every  ball  into 
the  basket  before  the  horizontal  bar 
at  the  bottom  of  the  screen  disap- 
pears, you  get  a  50-point  bonus. 

If  all  this  action  causes  your 
brain  to  momentarily  suffer  a  sys- 
tem crash,  you  can  freeze  every- 
thing by  pressing  and  holding  the 
SHIFT  key.  Press  SHIFT  LOCK  to 
freeze  the  game  for  extended  peri- 
ods. Release  SHIFT  to  resume  play. 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette    35 


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Bagdad 


Bryan  Files 


Beware  of  the  evil  genies  determined 
to  knock  you  from  your  magic  carpet. 
With  a  little  strategy  and  skill,  you 
can  trap  them  in  bottles — but  work 
quickly  before  they  re-emerge.  A  jay- 
stick  is  required. 


Flying  through  Bagdad  on  your 
magic  carpet,  you're  suddenly  ac- 
costed by  some  rug-riding  evil  ge- 
nies bent  on  knocking  you  off — 
literally  and  figuratively.  Your  only 
defense  is  to  knock  them  off  first, 
and  this  takes  some  tricky  maneu- 
vering. First,  you  must  trap  each 
genie  in  a  bottle.  Then  collect  the 
bottles  before  the  genies  have  a 
chance  to  escape.  If  you  fail  to  col- 
lect a  bottle  in  time,  the  lid  opens 
and  your  battle  resumes. 

The  Calm  Before  The  Storm 

Ridding  the  city  of  enemy  genies 
gives  you  a  brief  rest  before  the  next 
wave  of  more  numerous  and  deter- 
mined genies.  You  begin  with  three 
lives,  with  a  new  life  added  for 
every  5000  points  you  earn.  Only 
white  genies  are  encountered  dur- 
ing the  first  nine  waves,  but  the 
tenth  wave  brings  a  new,  more  ag- 
gressive menace — the  blue  genies. 
If  you  manage  to  reach  the  four- 
teenth level,  white,  blue,  and  the 
dreaded  purple  genies  emerge  for  a 
fast  and  furious  battle. 

Flying  The  Magic  Carpet 

After  loading  and  running  "Bag- 
dad,"   push    the    joystick,    which 


should  be  in  port  2,  forward  to  start 
the  game.  Move  the  joystick  left  or 
right  to  move  your  genie  corre- 
spondingly. Press  the  fire  button  to 
fly  up,  and  release  it  to  allow  gravi- 
ty to  pull  you  down.  Hovering  re- 
quires alternately  pressing  and 
releasing  the  fire  button.  If  you 
reach  the  top  of  the  screen,  your 
genie  will  bounce,  however,  he  will 
wrap  around  the  screen  at  the  left 
and  right  edges. 

Strategic  positioning  is  ex- 
tremely important.  When  two  ge- 
nies hit  at  the  same  level,  they 
bounce  off  each  other.  You  have  to 
use  your  carpet  to  hit  the  other 
genies.  If  you're  at  a  higher  level 
when  you  collide,  the  edge  of  your 
carpet  knocks  the  genie  off  his  rug. 
The  falling  genie  then  crawls  back 
into  his  bottle,  which  falls  to  the 
ground  (or  to  one  of  the  intermedi- 
ate levels). 

Once  in  the  bottle,  the  evil  ge- 
nie begins  to  work  his  way  out 
again.  The  only  way  to  get  rid  of 
him  is  to  fly  down  and  pick  up  the 
bottle. 

If  you  hit  a  genie  when  you're 
at  a  lower  level,  you're  the  loser. 
You  don't  have  a  bottle,  you  simply 
lose  one  of  your  genies.  You'll  rein- 
carnate at  the  bottom  of  the  screen, 
providing  you  have  at  least  one  life 
remaining.  During  the  three  or  four 
seconds  the  genie  is  flashing,  he 
cannot  be  defeated  by  enemies. 
However,  if  no  genies  are  nearby, 
you  can  terminate  the  flashing  and 
begin  play  by  moving  the  joystick.© 


36    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


Arcade  Baseball 


Here's  a  computerized  version  of  the 
once-popularmechanical  baseball 
game  found  in  the  pre-electronic  ar- 
cades. The  on/y  difference  is  you  don't 
need  any  dimes  or  quarters  to  play. 
An  exciting  one-  or  two-player  game. 

Spring  training  is  over  and  baseball 
season  is  under  way.  Here's  a 
chance  to  do  some  swinging  and 
pitching  against  a  friend — or  your 
Commodore  64.  "Arcade  Baseball" 
is  modeled  after  the  mechanical 
baseball  arcade  game  that  was  pop- 
ular before  computerized  games 
dominated  the  scene.  But  this  com- 
puter game  offers  a  few  options  that 
the  mechanical  versions  did  not: 
You  can  choose  to  practice  or  play, 
and  you  can  select  an  opponent: 
another  person  or  your  computer. 

A  Few  Choices 

To  play  the  game,  load  and  run 
Arcade  Baseball.  First  you're 
prompted  to  choose  Practice  (fl)  or 
Play  {f7).  In  practice  mode,  20 
pitches — a  random  mix  of  fastballs, 
changeups,  curves,  and  sliders — 
are  thrown  so  you  can  practice  hit- 
ting. (To  change  the  number  of 
pitches  thrown,  change  the  value  of 
RM  in  line  740.)  No  runners  are 
displayed,  and  outs  and  runs  do  not 
accumulate.  After  all  the  pitches  are 
thrown,  you're  asked  again  to  select 
Practice  or  Play. 

In  Play  mode,  you're  asked  to 
select  a  one-  or  two-player  game. 
Press  the  1  or  2  key.  If  you  wish  to 
play  the  computer,  select  the  one- 


Kevin  Mykytyn  and  Mark  Tuttle 


player  game.  Now  you're  ready  to 
begin. 

The  screen  is  divided  into  three 
sections.  On  the  left  is  the  playing 
field.  Along  the  top  of  the  field  is  a 
row  of  black  holes.  A  batted  ball 
will  land  in  one  of  these  holes,  and 
each  is  marked  with  a  result  {single, 
double,  triple,  or  out).  To  hit  a 
home  run,  the  ball  must  pass  over 
the  center  of  the  rectangular  ramp 
near  the  center  of  the  field.  (The 
crowd  loves  a  home  run  and  cheers 
when  either  team  hits  one.)  At  the 
bottom  of  the  field  is  a  specially 
designed  bat. 

The  upper  right  comer  of  the 
screen  is  the  scoreboard,  which 
contains  the  inning,  number  of 
strikes,  outs,  and  the  current  score. 
Players  are  represented  as  Visitor 
and  Home.  In  the  square  below  the 
scoreboard  is  a  display  of  the  base- 
ball diamond,  designed  to  show 
which  bases  are  occupied  by  the 
team  at  bat. 

Play  Balll 

You  must  first  choose  a  one-  or 
two-player  game.  The  one-player 
version — like  the  original  arcade 
game — lasts  for  three  outs.  Your 
objective  as  batter  is  to  score  as 
many  runs  as  possible  before  reach- 
ing three  outs.  The  computer,  as 
pitcher,  randomly  selects  the  type 
of  pitch:  fast  ball,  changeup  (a  slow 
moving  pitch),  curve  (which  breaks 
away,  to  the  right  of  the  plate),  or 
slider  (which  breaks  in,  to  the  left  of 
the  plate).   Swing  at  a  pitch  by 


pressing  the  space  bar.  This  moves 
the  bat  left  to  right.  Once  the  bat  is 
released,  you  no  longer  have  con- 
trol of  it,  so  you  must  time  the 
release  of  the  bat  to  meet  the 
pitched  ball.  If  the  ball  passes  un- 
touched, it  counts  as  a  strike. 

Because  different  pitches  cause 
the  ball  to  travel  at  different  speeds 
and  in  some  cases  change  direc- 
tions, timing  the  release  of  the  bat  is 
crucial  to  good  hitting.  The  bat  is 
designed  as  a  half  circle  to  allow 
you  control  of  the  angle  of  the  bat- 
ted ball.  There's  no  such  thing  as  a 
foul  ball  in  Arcade  Baseball;  you 
can  bounce  the  ball  off  the  sides  of 
the  field. 

When  you  get  a  hit,  you'll  see 
any  movements  on  the  base  paths  at 
the  lower  right  of  the  screen.  If  the 
hit  is  a  single,  the  batter  advances  to 
first  base,  and  any  other  base  run- 
ners move  up  one  base.  A  double 
moves  all  runners  up  two  bases,  a 
triple  three  bases.  A  run  scored  is 
indicated  by  a  chiming  tone  and  an 
update  on  the  scoreboard. 

The  two-player  version  offers 
more  variety: 

1.  The  game  lasts  for  three  in- 
nings. If  the  score  is  tied  after  three 
innings,  play  continues  until  one 
player  wins.  (The  home  team  al- 
ways gets  to  bat  last,  regardless  of 
the  score.)  The  visiting  team  is  blue, 
the  home  team  red. 

2.  You  pitch  as  well  as  hit.  Press 
one  of  the  function  keys  to  deliver  a 
pitch:  fl — fastball;  f3 — changeup; 
f5 — slider;  and  f7 — curveball.       6 


Best  of  COMPUTEl  and  Gazelle     37 


Eagles  And  Gators 


Featuring  16  sprites  on  a  split  screen, 
unique  sound  effects,  and  realistic 
animation,  this  two-player  action 
game  is  programmed  entirely  in  ma- 
chine language.  It's  written  for  the 
Commodore  64,  and  requires  at  least 
one  joystick. 


In  "Eagles  and  Gators,"  an  intense 
two-player  action  game,  even  the 
title  screen  is  animated.  Though  the 
Commodore  64  is  ordinarily  limited 
to  8  sprites,  this  game  displays  16 
moving  sprites  at  all  times  and  in- 
cludes highly  realistic  animation  as 
well. 

The  game  begins  with  an  ani- 
mated title  screen,  asking  whether 
you  want  to  read  the  game  instruc- 
tions. Press  Y  to  view  the  instruc- 
tion screen  or  N  to  skip  it.  Next, 
you're  shown  the  game  screen  and 
are  prompted  to  choose  one  of  the 
nine  skill  levels.  If  you've  never 
played  the  game  before,  you'll 
probably  want  to  press  1  to  choose 
the  easiest  level. 

Flyers  Against  Swimmers 

When  play  begins,  the  screen  is  split 
into  upper  and  lower  color  zones: 
sky-blue  for  the  eight  high-flying 
eagles  and  murky  black  for  the  eight 
gators  swimming  below.  Each  play- 
er controls  a  group  of  eight  sprites. 
The  game  is  written  to  be  played 
with  two  joysticks,  but  you  can  sub- 
stitute keypresses  to  control  the  ga- 
tors, normally  controlled  by  joystick 
1.  Press  the  CTRL  key  to  move  left, 
the  2  key  to  move  right,  and  the 
space  bar  to  fire. 

Your  sprites  are  in  constant, 
realistic  motion,  flying  or  swim- 
ming up  and  down  in  their  zones, 
rebounding  when  they  hit  the  bor- 
der between  the  two  worlds.  The 
flashing  colored  sprite  in  your 
group  is  the  one  controlled  by  your 
joystick.  To  switch  control  to  a  dif- 
ferent sprite,  move  left  or  right. 

The  goal  of  the  game  is  to  ex- 


Philip  I.  Nelson,  Assistant  Editor 

pand  your  zone  and  push  your  op- 
ponents off  the  screen.  This  is  done 
by  convincing  your  creatures  to 
push  against  the  sky/water  border. 
Press  the  fire  button  just  as  your 
flashing  eagle  or  gator  bumps  the 
border,  and  it  will  "clamp"  on  and 
start  to  shove.  Whenever  you  clamp 
successfully,  your  opponent's 
screen  flashes  red,  and  all  of  your 
creatures  thrash  momentarily  with 
excitement. 

Your  zone  expands  whenever 
you  have  more  sprites  pushing  than 
your  opponent,  and  the  game  ends 
when  one  side  or  the  other  takes 
over  the  entire  screen.  That  sounds 
simple,  but  it  takes  precise  timing  to 
clamp  just  one  sprite.  If  you  press 
the  fire  button  at  the  wrong  time, 
your  sprite  moves  away  from  the 
border,  regardless  of  its  initial  di- 
rection. If  you  press  the  fire  button 
when  your  flashing  sprite's  already 
stuck  to  the  border,  it  bounces  back 
to  the  farthest  end  of  your  zone. 

Your  adversary  can  also  un- 
clamp  one  of  your  creatures  by 
clamping  one  of  his  or  her  creatures 
directly  across  the  border  from 
yours.  The  ability  to  unclamp  an 
opponent's  creatures  at  any  time 
adds  an  extra  element  of  strategy 
and  makes  it  possible  to  turn  the 
tables  on  your  opponent  even 
when  defeat  seems  almost  certain. 
The  game  is  designed  to  reward 
concentration  and  careful  play,  and 
to  discourage  wild  tactics  such  as 
holding  the  fire  button  down  con- 
stantly. At  best,  you'll  prevent  your 
creatures  from  approaching  the 
border;  at  worst,  you'll  inadvertent- 
ly unclamp  those  from  your  side 
who  are  already  pushing. 

When  you  win  a  game,  the 
screen  clears  to  your  color,  and  a 
joyful,  double-sized  sprite  from  the 
winning  side  performs  a  victory 
dance  across  the  screen.  At  this 
stage  you  can  pick  a  new  skill  level 
for  the  next  round  or  quit  by  press- 
ing the  Q  key.  After  you  exit,  the 


game  can  be  restarted  by  typing 
SYS  16384  and  pressing  RETURN. 
To  stop  in  midplay,  press  RUN/ 
STOP-RESTORE. 

Displaying  16  Sprites 

space  doesn't  permit  a  detailed  ex- 
planation of  every  routine  in  this 
program,  but  you  may  be  curious 
about  how  to  display  more  than 
eight  sprites  at  a  time,  something 
often  mentioned,  but  rarely  seen  in 
action.  In  order  to  understand  how 
it's  done,  you'll  need  to  know  a 
little  about  raster  displays. 

Your  TV  or  monitor  makes  a 
picture  by  scanning  its  screen  with 
a  moving  electron  beam  called  a 
raster.  This  is  done  line  by  line, 
from  top  to  bottom,  60  times  a  sec- 
ond. The  visible  portion  of  a  TV 
picture  is  made  up  of  200  raster 
lines,  numbered  from  50  at  the  top 
through  249  at  the  bottom.  The 
same  numbering  scheme  is  used  for 
locating  sprites  vertically  on  the 
screen,  so  raster  line  100,  for  ex- 
ample, matches  up  with  sprite  ver- 
tical location  100.  This  correspon- 
dence between  raster  lines  and 
sprite  positions  greatly  simplifies 
the  task  of  creating  more  than  the 
usual  number  of  sprites. 

The  Commodore  64  keeps  track 
of  the  raster's  vertical  location  in  a 
special  memory  location  (register) 
at  53266  ($D012).  BASIC  is  too 
slow  to  make  much  use  of  it,  but 
machine  language  (ML)  is  fast 
enough  to  let  us  check  this  register 
repeatedly  and  monitor  the  posi- 
tion of  the  raster  beam  as  it  scans 
down  the  screen.  This  information 
is  used  to  create  a  split  screen  as 
well  as  to  double  the  usual  number 
of  sprites. 

Split  Screens 

To  make  the  two-color  split  screen, 
we  first  establish  an  arbitrary 
"split"  point  somewhere  near  the 
midpoint  of  the  screen  (say,  at  line 
100)  and  then  repeatedly  compare 


38     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


the  raster's  location  to  that  value. 
When  the  raster  value  is  less,  we 
know  it's  above  the  split,  so  we 
color  the  screen  cyan  to  create  the 
sky  zone.  When  the  raster  value  is 
greater,  that  means  it  has  dipped 
below  the  split  point,  so  we  color 
the  screen  black  for  the  water  zone. 
Remember,  moving  downward  on 
the  screen  increases  the  raster  (or 
sprite)  vertical  location  value.  By 
changing  the  border  color  along 
with  the  screen  background  color, 
we  can  make  the  split  extend  the 
full  width  of  the  screen  for  height- 
ened realism. 

The  same  sort  of  monitoring 
makes  it  possible  to  display  16 
sprites.  When  the  raster's  above  the 
split,  we  display  all  of  the  64's  8 
sprites  at  vertical  locations  in  the 
upper  color  zone.  When  it  drops 
below  the  split,  we  display  the 
same  8  sprites  at  locations  in  the 
lower  zone.  The  two  sets  of  sprites 
are  never  actually  displayed  at  the 
same  time.  The  program  just  changes 
their  locations  so  fast  that  your  eye 
sees  16  solid  figures,  without  a  trace 
of  flicker. 

Shadow  Registers 

If  you  stopped  at  this  point,  you'd 
have  two  identical  groups  of  eight 
sprites — upper  and  lower — sitting 
motionless  on  a  split  screen.  Nice, 
but  boring.  To  exploit  the  effect  in  a 
game,  we  want  the  two  sprite 
groups  to  look  different  and  move 
independently.  Unfortunately,  the 
Commodore  64  still  has  only  eight 
sets  of  sprite  control  registers  for 
handling  the  sprites'  shapes,  colors, 
and  so  on.  Remember,  we're  just 
flipping  the  same  group  of  eight 
sprites  back  and  forth  at  very  high 
speed  between  different  vertical  lo- 
cations. Thus,  top  sprite  1  doesn't 
just  look  the  same  as  bottom  sprite 
1;  it  is  the  same  sprite.  The  minute 
you  change  the  shape  or  color  of 
any  sprite  in  the  upper  group,  its 
lower  twin  immediately  follows 
suit,  and  vice  versa. 

What  we  really  need  to  write 
this  game  is  16  sets  of  sprite  control 
registers.  Commodore  didn't  de- 
sign 16  sprites  for  the  64,  but  you 
can  achieve  much  the  same  effect 
through  software.  Here's  an  outline 
of  how  it's  done  in  this  program. 
First,  we  set  aside  some  free  memo- 
ry to  use  as  "shadow"  registers  in 


place  of  the  actual  sprite  control 
registers.  Since  none  of  the  eagle  or 
gator  sprites  move  horizontally,  we 
don't  need  to  duplicate  the  8  hori- 
zontal position  registers.  However, 
every  sprite  must  be  able  to  move 
freely  up  or  down  and  change  its 
shape  and  color  at  any  time.  Thus, 
for  each  group  of  8  sprites  we  need 
8  registers  for  vertical  position,  8  for 
color,  and  8  more  to  hold  shape 
data  pointers.  Three  sets  of  8  make 
24:  double  that  for  the  second  set  of 
8  sprites,  and  you  now  have  48 
shadow  registers. 

To  make  each  sprite  appear  in 
the  correct  spot,  we  must  transfer 
the  contents  of  each  shadow  regis- 
ter into  the  corresponding  control 
register  at  precisely  the  right  in- 
stant. When  the  raster  beam  is  in 
the  upper  portion  of  the  screen, 
we'll  take  data  from  the  eagles'  set 
of  shadow  registers  and  store  it  in 
the  actual  sprite  control  registers. 
When  the  raster  creeps  down  below 
the  split,  we'll  fetch  gator  data  in- 
stead and  plug  that  into  the  control 
registers. 

Of  course,  it's  not  necessary  to 
do  this  on  a  two-color  split  screen. 
This  particular  program  changes 
screen  colors  at  the  split  point  to 
accentuate  the  division  between 
sides.  But  in  another  application, 
you  might  prefer  to  leave  out  the 
color  changing  code.  The  split  loca- 
tion is  just  an  invisible  reference 
point  that  tells  you  when  it's  time  to 
flip  the  sprites  from  one  zone  into 
the  other. 

Coasting  On  The  Interrupt 

Expressed  in  this  simple,  schematic 
form,  the  job  of  displaying  16 
sprites  sounds  quite  simple.  When 
the  raster  beam  is  above  the  mid- 
point, make  the  sprites  appear  in 
the  upper  area.  When  it's  below  the 
split,  move  them  down  into  the 
lower  area  and  give  them  new 
shapes  and  colors.  The  process  is 
uncomplicated  in  theory.  But  don't 
bother  trying  to  do  this  in  BASIC, 
which  is  many  times  too  slow  to 
read  the  raster's  position  accurate- 
ly. This  program  uses  an  interrupt- 
driven  routine  to  manage  the  16- 
sprite  effect.  Although  interrupt 
handling  goes  beyond  the  scope  of 
this  article,  the  technique  essential- 
ly wedges  our  custom  sprite  display 
routines  into  the  computer's  oper- 


ating system  along  with  its  normal 
hardware-servicing  routines,  which 
do  background  tasks  such  as  scan- 
ning the  computer's  keyboard. 
Conveniently,  the  interrupt-driven 
routine  is  executed  60  times  per 
second,  exactly  the  same  frequency 
at  which  the  screen  is  redrawn.  As  a 
result,  the  sprite  display  and  color 
split  are  quite  stable. 

The  advantage  of  driving  an 
ML  routine  on  the  hardware  inter- 
rupt is  that  it  becomes  completely 
automatic.  Sixty  times  every  sec- 
ond, the  computer  executes  your 
custom  routine  along  with  its  own 
housekeeping  routines.  An  inter- 
rupt-driven routine  seems  to  coast 
along  all  by  itself,  without  slowing 
down  other  program  events.  In  ef- 
fect, we've  enhanced  the  64  by  add- 
ing the  ability  to  display  16  sprites, 
with  the  option  of  a  two-color  split 
screen.  Because  the  custom  routines 
operate  in  the  background,  the 
shadow  sprite  control  registers 
seem  to  work  exactiy  like  the  actual 
control  registers.  We  can  change 
the  color,  shape,  or  position  of  any 
of  our  16  sprites  by  plugging  differ- 
ent values  into  their  shadow  control 
registers.  To  move  our  border  up  or 
down,  we  just  change  the  value  for 
our  split  point,  and  everything  else 
follows  accordingly. 

The  price  you  pay  for  these  new 
features  is  that  the  sprites  can't  leave 
their  respective  zones.  If  you  try  to 
move  an  eagle  sprite  down  into  the 
gator  zone,  the  custom  display  rou- 
tine automatically  gives  it  a  gator 
shape  and  color,  and  the  sky  is  minus 
one  eagle.  The  same  thing  happens 
in  reverse  if  you  move  a  gator  into 
the  upper  zone.  If  you  move  any 
sprite  so  that  it  overlaps  the  border, 
you  get  a  weird  hybrid  creature  with 
an  eagle-shaped  upper  body  and  a 
gator  tail.  It's  easy  to  forget  because 
the  shapes  look  so  real,  but  the  64 
still  has  only  8  sprites  built  into  hard- 
ware. Using  similar  techniques,  it's 
possible  to  display  as  many  as  64 
sprites  on  the  screen  at  once.  All  you 
need  to  do  is  divide  the  screen  into 
additional  zones,  add  extra  shadow 
registers,  and  modify  the  display 
routines  to  handle  them.  However, 
the  same  general  rules  apply.  Each 
group  of  sprites  is  confined  to  its  own 
zone,  and  you  may  not  have  more 
than  8  sprites  occupying  the  same 
screen  line.  C 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gozette     39 


\  READY-TO-USE 

mum  ai^PHics 

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Face-Off 


Kevin  Mykytyn  and  Mark  Tuttle 


Do  you  like  fast  action  and  competi- 
tion? Whether  you  play  against  a 
friend  or  your  computer,  this  colorful 
simulation  of  Air  Hockey  offers  both. 
For  the  Commodore  64  and  128  (in  64 
mode).  A  joystick  is  required  (two  joy- 
sticks for  two-player  game). 


If  you've  played  Air  Hockey,  you 
already  know  how  to  play  "Face- 
Off."  Based  on  ice  hockey.  Air 
Hockey  pits  two  players  against 
each  other,  each  trying  to  shoot  a 
puck  into  his  opponent's  goal  while 
defending  his  own  goal.  A  center 
line  splits  the  playfield.  Neither 
player  is  allowed  to  cross  this  line. 
The  object  of  the  game  is  simple: 
The  first  player  to  score  five  goals 
wins. 

To  play  the  game,  load  it  and 
type  RUN.  You'll  see  a  message 
(READING  DATA  — PLEASE 
WAIT)  and  after  a  brief  pause, 
you'll  see  a  prompt,  1  OR  2  PLAY- 
ERS. Press  1  or  2  (it's  not  necessary 
to  press  RETURN).  The  one-player 
game  pits  you  against  your  com- 
puter; the  two-player  game  is  for 
two  human  opponents  and  requires 
two  joysticks. 

Next,  you're  prompted  to  se- 
lect the  speed  (1-3).  Speed  1  is  the 
slowest  and  3  is  the  fastest.  (It  is 
suggested  that  you  play  your  first 
game  at  the  slowest  speed,  al- 
though speed  2  is  probably  the  one 
you'll  choose  after  playing  a  few 
times.)  If  you  selected  a  two-player 
option,  the  game  begins  after 
you've  selected  a  speed.  If  you 
chose  the  one-player  option,  there's 
one  more  prompt  to  answer:  Skill 
Level  (1-9).  This  determines  the  in- 


telligence of  the  computer-con- 
trolled player.  If  you  choose  1,  the 
computer  plays  a  pretty  easy  game. 
At  9,  it's  very  wily.  With  a  speed  of 
3  and  a  skill  level  of  9,  the  computer 
is  next  to  impossible  to  beat. 

When  the  game  begins,  you 
see  a  red  puck,  a  cyan  player  on  the 
left,  and  a  yellow  player  on  the 
right.  The  cyan  player  controls  the 
puck  to  start.  Contact  with  the  puck 
starts  the  game.  (Notice  that  the 
puck  gradually  slows  down  if  it's 
not  hit.)  After  each  goal  scored,  the 
player  scored  against  gets  control. 
(You  can  knock  the  puck  into  your 
own  goal,  which  awards  a  point  to 
your  opponent.)  A  total  of  nine 
pucks  are  placed  per  game.  If  you 
wish  to  change  the  number  of 
pucks,  change  the  value  in  line  510. 

One  Player  Or  Two? 

When  playing  against  the  com- 
puter, plug  a  joystick  into  port  1. 
You  control  the  yellow  player,  on 
the  right.  You  can  move  anywhere 
up  to  the  center  line.  (At  slower 
speeds,  one  strategy  is  to  play  along 
the  center  line,  like  rushing  the  net 
in  tennis.  This  keeps  the  puck  in  the 
computer  player's  territory  most  of 
the  time  if  you  can  react  quickly 
enough.)  Current  scores  for  each 
player  are  posted  at  the  top  of  the 
screen.  After  nine  pucks  are  used, 
the  game  is  over.  You're  then 
prompted  to  press  the  fire  button  to 
play  again,  then  to  press  up  on  the 
joystick  to  change  play  options  or 
down  to  play  with  those  of  the  pre- 
vious game. 

The  two-player  game  has  the 
same  rules.  The  cyan  player,  on  the 
left,  must  use  a  joystick  plugged 
into  port  2. 


40    Best  o(  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


Space  Arena 


Bryan  Files 


This  engaging  two-player  game,  which 
could  have  been  titled  "Indirect 
Aggression"  for  its  unique  design, 
features  superior  graphics  and  play- 
ability.  For  the  Commodore  64  and 
128  (in  64  mode).  Two  joysticks  are 
required. 


In  a  distant  galaxy,  a  fierce  war 
between  two  great  empires  has 
reached  a  stalemate.  The  cost  to 
both  civilizations  has  been  high 
with  no  gain  to  either  side.  With  the 
assistance  of  the  Timelords,  the  two 
sides  have  agreed  to  settle  the  dis- 
pute in  a  controlled  environment — 
a  Space  Arena. 

Enclosed  in  this  arena  are  four 
asteroids  and  a  ship  representing 
each  side.  Both  ships  are  equipped 
with  photon  blasters,  which  have 
the  ability  to  push  objects  without 
damaging  them.  A  ship  is  de- 
stroyed only  by  a  collision  with  an 
asteroid.  The  highest  score  within  a 
given  time  determines  the  victor. 
One  point  is  given  each  time  a  pilot 
hits  the  opposing  ship  with  a  pho- 
ton blast.  If  the  enemy's  ship  is 
destroyed  by  running  into  an  aster- 
oid, 20  points  are  awarded. 


In  "Space  Arena,"  two  people 
compete  with  their  joystick- 
controlled  ships.  The  movement  is 
much  like  the  classic  arcade  game 
Asteroids.  Rotate  the  ship  by  mov- 
ing the  joystick  left  or  right.  Push 
the  joystick  forward  to  activate  the 
ship's  thrusters,  and  press  the  fire 
button  to  release  a  photon  blast. 
Remember  that  you  have  no  brakes; 
to  slow  down,  you  must  turn  the 
ship  around  and  thrust  in  the  direc- 
tion you're  moving.  Game  options 
include  speed  (1-3,  where  1  is  the 
slowest  and  3  the  fastest)  and  time 
limit  (1-5  minutes). 

There  are  two  basic  strategies 
to  playing  Space  Arena.  You  can  try 
to  push  your  opponent  into  an  as- 
teroid, or  push  the  asteroids  into 
your  opponent.  The  effect  of  pho- 
ton blasts  on  asteroids  is  much  less 
than  on  ships  because  the  asteroids 
are  heavier.  A  single  photon  blast 
can  send  a  ship  flying  across  the 
screen,  especially  if  the  ship  has  to 
turn  around  before  being  able  to 
slow  down.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
your  opponent  is  faced  with  several 
fast  moving  asteroids,  he  may  crash 
into  one  on  his  own. 

To  load  the  game,  type  LOAD 
"SPACE  ARENA",8,1.  To  run  it, 
type  SYS  49152.  ® 


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ALL  MODELS 


COMMODORE 
APPLE 
ATARI 


IBM 

RADIO  SHACK 

COLECO 


Kicker 


John  Krause  and  Mark  Tuttle 


There's  no  such  thing  as  luck  in  this 
fast-paced  two-player  soccer  simula- 
tion for  the  Commodore  64  and  128  (in 
64  mode).  Two  joysticks  are  required. 


Defense  is  just  as  important  as  of- 
fense in  "Kicker,"  a  two-player  soc- 
cer simulation  in  which  each  player 
controls  nine  men.  You  need  quick 
reflexes  to  protect  your  goal  anti  to 
drive  the  ball  toward  your  oppo- 
nent's goal. 

Speed  And  Endurance 

Plug  a  joystick  in  each  port.  Before 
beginning  play,  you  must  select  a 
speed.  You're  prompted  to  press  S, 
M,  or  F  {Slow,  Medium,  or  Fast). 
Slow  is  the  recommended  level  to 
start  with  so  that  you  can  get  a  good 
feel  for  the  game,  although  the  me- 
dium speed  is  probably  the  level 
you'll  choose  most  often.  Here,  the 
speed  is  competitive  and  your 
wrists  may  last  for  the  entire  game. 
The  Fast  level  should  be  attempted 
only  by  diehard  Kicker  fanatics. 

Player  one,  the  blue  team,  and 
player  two,  the  red  team,  control 
three  rows  of  three  men  each.  But 
each  player  can  access  only  one  row 
at  a  time.  Move  the  joystick  up  to 
select  the  top  row,  down  to  select 
the  bottom  row,  or  leave  it  centered 
for  the  middle  row. 


After  choosing  a  row,  you  can 
move  the  joystick  left  or  right  to 
shift  the  entire  row  and  get  your 
men  into  position  to  kick  the  ball. 
When  the  ball  comes  near  one  of 
your  men,  press  the  fire  button  to 
kick  the  ball  in  the  direction  of  your 
opponent's  goal.  (The  game  is  de- 
signed so  that  you  can  kick  the  ball 
only  in  the  direction  of  your  oppo- 
nent's goal.  You  can't  accidentally 
kick  the  ball  into  your  own  goal.) 
Kicking  the  ball  requires  split- 
second  timing.  Holding  down  the 
fire  button  won't  do.  You  must 
press  the  fire  button  at  the  moment 
the  ball  comes  in  contact  with  your 
player.  Otherwise  the  ball  will  con- 
tinue past  your  player.  Remember, 
selecting  a  row  will  not  allow  you  to 
kick  the  ball.  You  must  activate  the 
row  by  pressing  the  fire  button. 

When  a  row  is  inactive  (the  fire 
button  is  not  pressed  or  you  do  not 
control  that  row)  the  men  are  repre- 
sented by  three  dots.  Use  the  row  of 
men  nearest  your  goal  to  block 
shots  by  your  opponent.  The  scores 
of  both  players  are  displayed  at  the 
top  of  the  screen.  After  each  goal,  a 
bell  sounds  and  a  red  or  blue  light, 
representing  the  color  of  the  scoring 
team,  flashes  in  the  goal  area.  The 
ball  is  placed  in  the  center  of  the 
field  at  the  beginning  of  the  game 
and  after  each  goal.  The  first  player 
to  score  nine  goals  is  the  winner.® 


42    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


Heat  Seeker 


Jeff  Wolverton 


Your  jet  climbs  upward  to  avoid  the 
missile,  then  dives  for  the  ground.  But 
it's  still  on  your  tail.  You  can't  shake  a 
heat  seeker.  This  fast-action  game  re- 
quires a  joystick. 


Heat  seeking  missiles  are  danger- 
ous. They  sense  the  heat  from  your 
jet  engine  and  home  in  on  you. 
They'll  catch  you,  too — they're 
faster  than  a  jet. 

Your  assignment:  Eliminate 
the  heat  seeker  base.  It's  easy 
enough  to  strafe  the  missiles  on  the 
ground,  but  if  any  are  launched, 
you'll  have  to  take  evasive  action. 

Piloting  The  Jet 

Use  the  joystick  to  control  the 
movement  of  the  plane.  The  con- 
trols may  seem  to  be  a  little  confus- 
ing at  first.  You  pull  back  to  loop 
upwards  (counterclockwise)  and 
push  forward  to  loop  down  (clock- 
wise), like  a  real  airplane.  The  jet 
moves  at  a  constant  velocity — you 
can't  speed  up  or  slow  down.  Press 
the  fire  button  to  launch  a  missile  at 
the  heat  seekers  on  the  ground. 

It  does  no  good  to  fire  at  a 
moving  heat  seeker.  They're 
equipped  with  an  Improved  Elec- 


tronic Evasion  (lEE)  circuit  which 
makes  them  impossible  to  hit.  The 
only  way  to  get  rid  of  a  seeker  is  to 
make  it  crash  into  the  ground. 
When  you're  being  pursued,  dive 
for  the  ground  and  pull  up  at  the 
last  second.  Seekers  are  faster,  but 
they  can't  turn  as  quickly. 

If  you  manage  to  eliminate  all 
the  heat  seekers,  you  get  to  start  all 
over  again,  with  a  new  group  of 
heat  seekers.  You  have  eight  jets  to 
work  with — the  number  remaining 
is  displayed  on  the  screen,  next  to 
the  score.  If  your  jet  is  destroyed,  all 
missiles  reappear. 

To  pause  the  game,  press 
SHIFT/LOCK. 

The  game  includes  an  option 
for  a  two-player  mode,  but  it's  not 
competitive:  The  players  take  turns 
flying  the  plane,  trying  for  the  high- 
est possible  score.  The  game  reads 
both  joystick  ports,  so  if  you're 
using  two  joysticks,  the  inactive 
player  should  put  down  the  joy- 
stick to  avoid  interfering. 

There  are  three  levels  of  diffi- 
culty: Novice,  Intermediate,  and 
Expert.  The  higher  levels  have  fast- 
er action  and  tighter  curves.  A 
flight-time  bonus  of  ten  points  is 
awarded  every  few  seconds,  just  for 
staying  in  the  air.  © 


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Best  o(  COMPUTEl  and  Gazette    43 


The  Fast  Assembler 


Here's  a  truly  amazing  machine  lan- 
guage assembler  for  the  64  and  128  (in 
64  mode).  "Fast  Assembler"  supports 
multiple  statement  lines,  labels,  and 
macro-like  "include"  files.  It  can  as- 
semble to  memory  or  to  disk.  Written 
very  compactly,  it  occupies  only 
about  2600  bytes,  leavitig  the  rest  of 
memory  for  your  source  code.  It  also 
adds  to  the  BASIC  editor  several  new 
features  useful  to  both  BASIC  and 
machine  language  programmers. 


Symbolic  label-based  assemblers 
are  the  most  convenient  way  to 
write  machine  language  (ML)  pro- 
grams. The  instructions  are  entered 
as  source  code  and  later  assembled 
into  object  code  (the  actual  ML  pro- 
gram— the  numbers  in  memory). 
And  rather  than  using  memory  lo- 
cations, you  can  name  routines 
with  meaningful  labels.  It's  as  if 
you  could  enter  GOSUB  JOYSTICK 
in  BASIC. 

Saving  Memory  By  Using 
The  BASiC  Editor 

You  write  your  ML  programs  for 
"The  Fast  Assembler"  (FA)  with  the 
64's  BASIC  editor.  You  save  to  tape 
or  disk  as  you  would  a  BASIC  pro- 
gram, and  listing  it  to  a  printer  is 
exactly  the  same  as  listing  BASIC. 
The  FA  is  an  extension  of  the 
BASIC  interpreter  especially  de- 
signed for  writing  programs  in  ma- 
chine language.  Writing  it  as  a 
BASIC  extension  kept  the  program 


Yves  Han 


short  (under  2600  bytes)  because 
many  subroutines  of  the  BASIC  in- 
terpreter could  be  used.  Some  mod- 
ifications have  been  made  to  BASIC 
to  make  writing  programs  easier. 
To  do  this,  the  BASIC  ROM  had  to 
be  copied  to  its  matching  RAM. 

Even  if  you  don't  write  pro- 
grams in  machine  language,  you 
can  still  use  the  assembler  because 
of  the  new  features  added  to  BASIC 
and  the  extra  BASIC  commands. 
The  assembler  will  execute  a  BASIC 
program  just  like  normal  BASIC 
would. 

To  start  up  FA,  first  load  it  as  if 
it  were  a  BASIC  program  (don't  use 
a  secondary  address  of  1,  just  type 
LOAD  "Fast  Assembler",8.  Then 
type  RUN.  The  enabling  SYS  is 
built  into  the  first  line  of  the  pro- 
gram. The  screen  will  clear,  and  a 
message  will  appear  at  the  top  of 
the  screen,  indicating  FA  has  been 
enabled.  You  can  now  start  pro- 
gramming— in  BASIC  or  machine 
language. 

BASiC  Modifications 
And  Enhancements 

The  following  changes  have  been 
made  to  the  BASIC  interpreter: 

•  Structured  listings.  Spaces 
between  the  line  number  and  the 
first  character  on  the  line  are  not 
deleted.  This  makes  it  possible  to 
indent  lines  and  make  listings  easi- 
er to  read. 

•  List  pause.  You  can  freeze  a 
listing  by  holding  down  the  SHIFT 


key  or  pressing  SHIFT-LOCK.  List- 
ing can  be  continued  by  releasing 
the  SHIFT  key. 

•  ASCII  translations  and  hex- 
adecimal/binary  numbers.   In 

arithmetic  expressions,  you  can  use 
hexadecimal  and  binary  numbers. 
Hexadecimal  numbers  should  be 
preceded  by  "$"  and  binary  num- 
bers by  "%".  You  can  also  use  a 
character  preceded  by  a  single 
quote  ('A  is  the  same  as  ASC("A")). 
You  can  also  use  this  to  find  the 
value  of  a  BASIC  token.  For  ex- 
ample, PRINT  'END  will  print  the 
value  128,  which  is  the  BASIC  code 
for  END.  If  you  put  a  space  be- 
tween the  quote  and  the  character, 
the  ASCII  value  of  the  space  will  be 
taken  instead  of  the  character. 

•  Variable  and  function 
names.  The  rules  for  variable  and 
function  names  have  been  changed 
a  little  bit.  Instead  of  the  first  two, 
the  first  eight  characters  are  recog- 
nized. FA  recognizes  NUMBERl 
and  NUMBER2  as  separate  vari- 
ables, while  ordinary  BASIC  would 
consider  them  the  same  variable 
(NU).  Variables  may  contain  but 
not  be  equal  to  BASIC/assembler 
commands  or  mnemonics:  LAND  is 
a  legitimate  variable  name,  even 
though  it  contains  the  keyword 
AND.  But  variable  labels  starting 
with  TI  or  ST  (reserved  keywords) 
are  not  automatically  set  to  zero  the 
first  time  you  use  them.  An  excep- 
tion to  the  eight  character  names  is 
that  only  the  first  two  characters  of 


44    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


array  variables  are  significant. 

•  Keywords.  Because  variable 
and  function  names  may  contain 
keywords,  FA  has  to  be  able  to 
decide  v^fhether  a  keyword  is  a  key- 
word or  part  of  a  variable  or  func- 
tion name.  So  the  assembler 
recognizes  a  keyword  if  it's  fol- 
lowed by  a  space  or  nonalphabetic 
character.  For  example,  in  PRINT 
"OK"  the  keyword  PRINT  will  be 
recognized  as  a  PRINT  command, 
but  in  A$  =  "OK":PRINTA$,  the 
keyword  PRINT  is  recognized  as 
part  of  the  variable  name 
PRINTA$.  You  would  have  to  in- 
sert a  space  (PRINT  A$)  if  you 
wanted  to  print  the  variable  A$. 

•  REM  and  DATA.  Capital  let- 
ters in  REM  and  DATA  lines  are 
listed  as  capital  letters  and  not  as 
tokenized  BASIC  keywords.  For  ex- 
ample, 10  rem  AB  lists  as  it  is  en- 
tered and  not  as  10  rem  atnpeek  as 
normal  BASIC  would  do. 

New  BASIC  Commands 

AUTO  step  value 
This  command  turns  automatic  line 
numbering  on  and  defines  the  step 
value  between  the  line  numbers.  To 
enter  AUTO  mode,  type  AUTO  fol- 
lowed by  the  step  value  and  press 
RETURN.  Then  enter  a  line  with  a 
line  number.  The  next  line  number 
prints  automatically.  To  leave  auto 
mode,  move  the  cursor  to  an  empty 
line  and  press  RETURN.  To  turn 
automatic  line  numbering  off  alto- 
gether, enter  AUTO  only. 

You  can  also  use  this  command 
to  delete  part  of  a  program.  Turn 
automatic  line  numbering  on  with  a 
step  value  of  one.  Type  the  number 
of  the  first  line  you  want  to  delete 
and  press  RETURN.  Keep  pressing 
RETURN  until  you've  reached  the 
end  of  the  section  you  want  to  de- 
lete. Instead  of  pressing  RETURN 
again  and  again,  you  can  enter 
POKE  650428  and  hold  RETURN 
down  until  you've  reached  the  last 
line  to  be  erased. 

OLD 

If  you  accidentally  type  NEW,  you 
can  restore  your  program  with  this 
command.  It  can  also  be  used  if 
you've  installed  a  reset  button.  If 
you've  assembled  a  program  and 
are  testing  it,  sometimes  your  com- 
puter locks  up.  Use  the  reset  button 
and  then  enter  SYS  4408  to  restart 


the  assembler  and  type  OLD  to  re- 
store the  source  program.  If  your 
program  has  not  destroyed  the  as- 
sembler or  the  source  program,  ev- 
erything will  be  there. 

Semicolon  0) 

This  has  the  same  function  as  the 
REM  statement.  It  need  not  be  sep- 
arated with  a  colon  from  the  pre- 
ceding command.  For  example: 

10  X  =  0:REM  SET  X  TO  ZERO 

is  the  same  as 

10  X=0;SET  X  TO  ZERO 

The  semicolon  in  the  commands 
PRINT  and  INPUT  is  not  treated  as 
a  REM  statement  but  as  a  separator. 

Using  Labels  As  Variables 
And  Addresses 

Label  names  follow  the  same  rules 
as  variable  names.  They  can  be 
used  in  arithmetic  expressions  like 
normal  variables.  You  can  define  a 
label  in  two  ways: 

You  can  place  the  label  name 
just  before  the  command  to  which 
you  want  to  refer.  If  more  com- 
mands are  on  the  same  line,  you 
must  separate  the  label  from  the 
commands  with  a  colon. 

Or  you  can  label  the  current 
program  counter:  LABEL- 
NAME  =  *.  The  asterisk  (*)  is  a  spe- 
cial variable  which  gives  the  value 
of  the  program  counter.  The 
counter  is  the  address  where  the 
next  instruction  or  datum  will  be 
placed.  You  can  only  read  the  vari- 
able *.  You  cannot  assign  a  value  to 
it  with  the  statement  *  =  expr. 

Here's  an  example  of  using  la- 
bels to  mark  routines  in  a  program 
(don't  type  this  in,  it's  only  a  frag- 
ment of  a  program): 

50  JSR  DISPLAYl;  JUMP  TO  LABELED 
SUBROUTINE  (LINE  90) 

60  LDA  $FF:  BNE  SKIPIT  ;  CONDI- 
TIONAL BRANCH  AHEAD  TO 
SKIPIT 

70TYA 

80  SKIPIT:  LDX  #4:  STA  $8000,X:  RTS; 
TARGET  OF  BRANCH  IN  60 

90  DISPLAYl  =  •  ;  THIS  LABELS  THE 
CURRENT  PROGRAM  COUNTER 

100; 

110  LDA  #65:  JSR  $FFD2:  RTS 

Remember  that  in  the  lines 
above,  the  semicolon  marks  the  be- 
ginning of  a  comment  which,  like  a 
REM,  is  ignored  by  FA.  The  tech- 
nique in  line  90  is  valuable  if  you 


think  you  may  be  adding  some 
code  at  the  beginning  of  the  rou- 
tine. As  listed,  the  subroutine  called 
DISPLAYl  starts  with  LDA  #65, 
but  later  you  could  go  in  and  add 
some  lines  between  90  and  110. 

Three  Passes  To  Assemble 

Three  passes  are  required  to  assem- 
ble source  code  (what  you  write) 
into  object  code  {an  executable  ML 
program  that  the  computer  can  fol- 
low). But  FA  doesn't  do  it  by  itself. 
You  have  to  insert  a  loop  that  re- 
peats three  times  with  BASIC 
commands: 

10  FOR  PASS  =  1  TO  3 
.  (Insert  source  code) 
90  NEXT  PASS:END 

If  you  use  an  invalid  address- 
ing mode  such  as  LSR  (expr),y 
you'll  see  ILLEGAL  ADDRESSING- 
MODE  ERROR.  Mnemonics  can 
only  be  used  in  program  mode — 
that  is,  in  a  program  you  execute 
with  RUN.  If  you  enter  a  mnemonic 
in  direct  mode,  you'll  see  ILLEGAL 
DIRECT  ERROR. 

Also  note  that  for  Immediate 
Addressing,  the  argument  can  be 
an  actual  number  or  an  arithmetic 
expression  with  a  value  in  the  range 
0-255.  Or  you  can  substitute  a 
string  expression,  in  which  case  the 
assembler  takes  the  ASCII  value  of 
the  first  character  as  the  argument. 
If  the  string  length  is  zero,  the  argu- 
ment becomes  zero. 

Assembler  Commands 

Assembler  commands  which  write 
data  to  the  output  device  can  only 
be  used  in  program  mode,  other- 
wise you'll  get  ILLEGAL  DIRECT 
ERROR.  All  assembler  commands 
must  be  included  in  every  pass. 
ORG  address,mode,device,name 
This  command  must  be  used  at  the 
start  of  each  pass.  It  does  several 
things.  First,  it  sets  the  origin 
(ORG),  the  memory  address  for  the 
beginning  of  the  ML  program.  It 
assigns  an  initial  value  to  the  pro- 
gram counter.  It  also  sets  the  as- 
sembler mode,  which  should  be 
zero  on  the  first  two  passes  and  one 
on  the  third  and  last.  ORG  also  sets 
the  output  device  and  filename  (if 
necessary). 

Not  all  arguments  are  neces- 
sary. Also  permitted  are: 


Best  of  COwlPUTEl  and  Gazette    45 


ORG 

ORG  address 

ORG  address,inode 

Default  values  for  the  argu- 
ments are: 

address  -  49152  (=$C000) 

mode     =  0 

device    —  0  and  no  name 

If  you  use  a  mnemonic  or  as- 
sembler command  before  you've 
used  the  command  ORG,  you'll  see 
UNDEFD  LOCATION  COUNTER 
ERROR. 

The  address  assigns  a  value  to 
the  program  counter.  Usually,  you 
use  more  than  one  pass  to  assemble 
the  source  program.  Only  during 
the  last  pass  should  the  object  code 
be  written  to  memory  or  to  the  out- 
put device.  Mode  tells  the  assem- 
bler when  the  last  pass  is  reached. 
Zero  means  it's  not  the  last  pass,  so 
no  object  code  should  be  produced, 
and  there's  no  range  checking  for 
arguments  and  no  checking  for  too 
large  branches. 

On  the  final  pass,  you  should 
set  the  mode  to  one,  which  signals 
the  last  pass,  when  object  code  is 
written  to  the  output  device. 

Finally,  you  set  the  device 
number  of  the  output  device  and  a 
string  expression  which  contains 
the  filename  if  the  object  code  is  not 
written  to  memory.  Zero  means  the 
output  device  is  memory.  Be  careful 
not  to  write  to  memory  locations 
where  the  assembler  is  placed 
($0801-$121B)  or  where  the  BASIC 
interpreter  is  placed  ($A000- 
$BFFF). 

A  device  number  in  the  range 
8-11  means  the  output  device  is  a 
disk  drive.  If  mode  is  equal  to  one, 
the  assembler  will  open  a  PRG  file 
with  the  name  specified  in  the  argu- 
ment name.  The  logical  file  number 
will  be  eight. 

BYTE  expTesswn,expresswn,... 

This  command  writes  numbers  or 
characters  to  memory  or  the  select- 
ed output  device.  It  can  have  one  or 
more  arithmetic  or  string  expres- 
sions separated  by  commas.  Arith- 
metic expressions  must  give  a 
positive  value  less  than  256.  The 
value  will  be  placed  in  one  byte. 
Each  character  of  a  string  expres- 
sion will  be  placed  in  one  byte. 

WORD  expression,expression,... 

This  has  the  same  function  as  BYTE 


except  that  values  of  arithmetic  ex- 
pressions must  be  positive  and  less 
than  65536.  The  value  will  be 
placed  in  two  bytes  in  low/high 
format. 

INCLUDE  name,device 

This  command  assembles  a  file 
from  disk  and  inserts  the  resulting 
object  code  into  memory  or  the  out- 
put device.  The  file  must  be  a  nor- 
mal PRG  file  and  may  not  contain 
BASIC  commands  which  cause  a 
branch  to  another  line  or  stop  the 
program.  Also  not  permitted  are  the 
BASIC  commands  DEF,  RETURN, 
CLR,  NEW,  and  the  assembler 
commands  SEND  and  INCLUDE. 

The  file  is  opened  with  a  logi- 
cal file  number  of  nine.  The  file  is 
closed  when  the  end  of  the  file  is 
reached.  The  name  is  the  filename 
you're  including,  and  the  device 
number  can  be  8-11  (use  8  if  you 
have  a  single  drive).  If  you  have 
only  one  disk  drive  and  you  assem- 
ble to  disk,  the  file(s)  for  the  com- 
mand INCLUDE  must  be  on  the 
same  disk  to  which  you  assemble. 

All  variables  and  labels  are 
global,  which  means  you  can  pass 
parameters  to  INCLUDE  files  so 
they  can  work  like  macro-instruc- 
tions. Let's  say  you're  writing  a  pro- 
gram that  needs  to  access  several 
different  disk  files,  and  there  are 
several  points  in  the  program  that 
use  the  Kemal  routines  SETLFS, 
SETNAM,  and  OPEN.  You  could 
write  the  source  code  that  performs 
these  Kemal  calls  and  save  it  to  disk 
under  the  program  name  "OPEN" 
to  be  used  later.  Then,  in  the  main 
program,  use  INCLUDE  "OPEN" 
,8.  When  the  source  code  is  com- 
piled, the  series  of  commands  from 
the  OPEN  file  are  automatically  in- 
serted in  the  proper  place  in  the 
object  code. 

SEND  stringexpr 

The  command  SEND  may  be  used 
only  if  the  object  program  is  written 
to  disk.  It's  used  to  link  object  code 
to  a  BASIC  program.  Stringexpr 
must  contain  a  BASIC  line  with  line 
number.  If  you  forget  the  line  num- 
ber, you'll  get  MISSING  LINE 
NUMBER  ERROR.  If  you  want  to 
send  more  than  one  line,  you  must 
use  SEND  for  each  line,  and  you 
have  to  send  the  lines  in  the  right 
order.   You  must   send   the   lines 


before  the  actual  object  code  is  writ- 
ten to  disk.  The  address  in  the  ORG 
command  must  be  the  start  of 
BASIC  RAM  (2049). 

UNSEND 

If  you  load  a  program  which  con- 
sists of  both  BASIC  and  ML,  the 
interpreter  has  to  know  where  the 
BASIC  part  ends.  UNSEND  places 
a  mark  which  the  computer  recog- 
nizes as  the  end  of  the  BASIC  part. 

Example  Programs 

100  FOR  PASS  =  1  TO  3:PRINT 

'TASS'TASS 
110  ORG  SCOOO 

120  IF  PAS  =  3  THEN  OFG  $C000,1 
130  START:  LDX  #0 
140  LOOP:  LDA  TEXT,X:PRINT  TEXT, 
150  BEQ  EXIT 
160  JSR  $FFD2 
170  INX 
180  BNE  LOOP 
190  EXIT:  RTS 
200  PRINT  ' 

210  TEXT:  BYTE  "EXAMPLE  1",0 
220  NEXT  PASS:END 

Lines  110  and  120  show  how 
to  use  the  command  ORG.  In  every 
pass,  line  110  sets  mode  0.  But  in 
pass  three,  line  120  sets  mode  1. 
The  object  code  will  start  at  49152 
(hexadecimal  $CO0O).  Line  200 
prints  the  current  value  of  the  loca- 
tion counter  (*). 

You  can  assemble  the  program 
with  the  command  RUN.  The  pro- 
gram will  give  the  following 
output: 

PASS  1        0  49165 

PASS  2        49165        49166 
PASS  3        49166        49166 

The  first  column  is  the  pass 
number.  The  second  column  is  the 
value  of  the  label  TEXT  in  the  in- 
struction LDA  TEXT,X  in  line  140. 
The  third  column  is  the  value  the 
label  should  have  when  the  source 
code  is  assembled.  You  can  see  that 
only  in  pass  three  are  these  values 
equal  to  each  other.  This  is  because 
the  assembler  defaults  to  zero-page 
addressing.  In  pass  one,  TEXT  has  a 
value  less  than  256  so  zero-page 
addressing  is  assumed.  This  means 
a  two-byte  instruction  instead  of 
three.  The  value  assigned  to  TEXT 
will  be  too  low,  as  you  can  see  in 
pass  one.  In  pass  two,  this  value, 
which  is  too  low,  vnW  be  used  in 
assembling  line  140.  The  assembler 
decides  not  to  use  zero-page  ad- 
dressing, so  TEXT  is  assigned  the 
correct  value.  In  pass  three,  the  cor- 


46     Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


rect  value  replaces  the  previously 
incorrect  values  during  assembly. 

5  ;  EXAMPLE  PROGRAM  2 
6; 

10  PRINT  CHR$(147) 

11  DEF  FN  H{X)  =  INT(X/256) 

12  DEF  FN  L(X)  =  X-256*FN  H(X) 
20  PRINT:PRINT"  Loader  maker" 

30  PRINT:PRINT"  Enter  the  name  of  the 

program  that" 
40  PRINT"  has  to  be  loaded  by  the 

loader." 
50  INPUT"  >";NAME$ 
60  FRINT:PRINT"  Enter  the  name  of  the 

loader." 
70  INPUT"  >";N$ 
80  PRINT:PRINT"  Enter  the  address  to 

execute  the" 
90  PRINT"  program." 
100  INPUT"  >"; ADDRESS: ADDRESS  = 

ADDRESS-1 
105; 

110FORPASS=lTO3 
115; 

120  ORG  2049 

130  IF  PASS  =  3  THEN  ORG  2049,1,8,N$ 
135; 

140  SEND  "10  SYS  +  STR$aOADER) 
150  UNSEND 
155; 

160    LOADER:   LDA  #8:TAX:LDY  #1 
170  JSR  SFFBA 

180  LDX  #FN  L(NAME» 

190  LDY  #FN  H(NAME) 

200  LDA  #LEN(NAME$) 

210  JSR  $FFBD 

220  LDA  #FN  H(ADDRE5S): 

PHA 
230  LDA  #FN  L(ADDRESS): 

PHA 
240  LDA  #0:JMP  $55D5 

250    NAME:       BYTE  NAME$ 
255  ; 
260   NEXT  PASS:CLOSE  8:END 

The  above  example  program 
shows  how  to  use  the  commands 
SEND  and  UNSEND  to  write  a  pro- 
gram that  includes  a  SYS  within  a 
BASIC  Une. 

The  main  routine  at  160-250 
illustrates  how  to  load  another  pro- 
gram from  an  ML  program.  Note 
that  the  lines  up  to  100  are  BASIC; 
they  prepare  the  variables  and  de- 
fined functions  for  use  in  the  source 
code.  If  you  assemble  the  program 
with  the  command  RUN,  you'll  get 
a  program  that  can  load  another  ML 
program  from  disk  and  execute  it. 
The  object  code  will  be  written  to 
disk. 

In  line  140,  the  command 
SEND  writes  a  BASIC  line  to  the 
output  device  by  which  you  can 
load  and  run  the  program  as  if  it 
were  a  normal  BASIC  program. 
Line  150  marks  the  end  of  the 
BASIC  part  of  the  object  code. 

The  INPUTS  in  lines  50,  70, 


and  100  permit  you  to  enter  the 
parameters  for  the  object  program 
when  the  source  program  is  assem- 
bled. In  this  way  you  can  make 
different  object  programs  with  one 
source  program. 

Another  advantage  of  writing 
the  assembler  as  a  BASIC  extension 
is  that  you  can  assemble  a  program 
to  the  top  of  memory.  Use  the  fol- 
lowing construction  to  do  this: 

100  POKE  56,PEEK(56)-4:CLR 

110  TOPOFMEM  =  PEEK(55)  +  256«(PEEK 

(56) +  4) 
120  ADDRESS=0:MODE=0 
130  FOR  PASS  =  1  TO  3 
140  ORG  ADDRESS 
150  IF  PASS  =  3  THEN  ORG  ADDRESS, 

MODE 


.  Source  code 


900  NEXT  PASS 
910  IF  MODE^l  THEN  END 
920  ADDRESS  =  TOPOFMEM-* 
930  MODE  =  l:GOTO  130 

In  this  program,  the  source 
code  goes  through  six  passes.  Dur- 
ing the  first  three  passes  the  loca- 
tion counter  remains  at  zero.  Mode 
0  is  used  so  the  object  program  will 
not  be  written  to  the  output  device. 
The  length  of  the  program  is  calcu- 
lated and  subtracted  from  TOPOF- 
MEM.  This  address  is  used  in  the 
second  three  passes  to  assemble  to 
the  top  of  memory.  MODE  is  set  to 
one  so  the  assembler  will  write  the 
object  code  to  the  output  device 
during  the  sixth  pass  (actually  pass 
three  of  the  second  time  around). 
Line  100  is  used  to  reserve  IK  at  the 
top  of  memory  for  the  object 
program. 

Large  Programs 

If  your  source  program  won't  fit 
into  memory,  you  can  split  your 
program  and  use  the  command  IN- 
CLUDE. For  example: 

10  FOR  PASS  =  1  TO  3 

20  ORG  ADDRESS 

30  IF  PASS  =  3  THEN  ORG  ADDRESS,! 

.  Part  1  of  source  code 

90  INCLUDE  'TART  2",8 
100  INCLUDE  "PART  3",8 
110  NEXT  PASS:END 

The  labels  and  variables  used 
in  the  INCLUDE  fUes  will  be  global 
variables,  which  means  you  can  use 
them  in  arithmetic  expressions  ev- 
erywhere in  the  program. 


Another  possibility  is  chaining 
the  programs,  but  then  you  can't 
use  a  FOR-NEXT  loop  for  the 
passes.  You  must  use  another  way 
to  define  the  passes.  For  example: 

FIRSTPROGRAM 

10  PASS  =  PASS  +  1:IF  PASS=4  THEN 

END 
20  ORG  ADDRESS 
30  IF  PASS  =  3  THEN  ORG  ADDRESS,1 

.  Source  code 

90  LOAD"SECONDPROGRAM",8 
SECONDPROGRAM 

.  Source  code 

90  LOAD"FIRSTPROGRAM",8 

Note  that  these  are  just  exam- 
ples. You'd  have  to  insert  your  own 
source  code  as  indicated.  To  chain 
programs,  you  would  load  and  exe- 
cute the  first  program,  it  controls 
the  number  of  passes  and  loads  the 
next  program.  The  next  program 
loads  the  following  program  and  so 
on  until  the  last  program,  which 
must  load  the  first  again.  S 


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Best  of  COMPUTEl  and  Gazette    47 


Disk  Editor 


For  more  advanced  readers,  here's  a 
utility  that  offers  power  and  flexibili- 
ty unavailable  with  BASIC.  With  a 
few  commands,  you  can  easily  exam- 
ine and  alter  any  byte  on  a  disk. 


You  probably  use  your  disk  drive 
mainly  for  saving  and  loading 
BASIC  programs,  occasionally  dab- 
bling in  sequential  and  relative 
files.  BASIC  provides  simple  com- 
mands for  using  each  type  of  file: 
SAVE,  LOAD,  PRINT#,  etc.  When 
you  type  SAVE,  for  example,  you 
don't  have  to  worry  about  what 
instructions  to  give  the  disk  drive  to 
make  it  write  your  program  on  the 
disk.  BASIC  works  together  with 
the  Disk  Operating  System  (DOS) 
to  automatically  perform  all  the 
necessary  tasks. 

The  disadvantage  of  using 
these  simple  commands  instead  of 
accessing  the  disk  directly  is  lack  of 
control  and  power.  For  example, 
DOS  has  a  scratch  command,  but 
not  an  unscratch  command.  So  if 
you  accidently  scratch  a  file,  there's 
no  way  to  bring  it  back,  even 
though  all  the  information  is  still  on 
the  disk.  And  DOS  has  the  ability  to 
lock  a  file  so  that  it  can't  be 
scratched,  but  no  command  is 
available  for  using  this  feature. 

Accessing  the  disk  directly 
gives  you  much  more  power  and 
flexibility.  DOS  has  several  low- 
level  commands  for  this  purpose. 
The  Block  Read  and  Block  Write 
commands  enable  you  to  change 
the  contents  of  an  individual  block 


Kevin  Mykytyn 


or  sector.  But  these  commands  are 
difficult  to  use. 

"Disk  Editor"  makes  it  easy  to 
examine  and  alter  any  byte  on  the 
disk.  To  run  it,  type  LOAD  "DISK 
EDITOR",8,l  and  NEW.  Then  in- 
sert the  disk  you  want  to  edit  and 
type  SYS  12000.  Note:  Before  using 
one  of  your  regular  disks,  test  Disk 
Editor  with  a  new  disk  containing 
copies  of  a  few  programs. 

How  To  Use  It 

To  use  Disk  Editor  effectively,  it's 
important  to  understand  how  a  disk 
is  organized.  A  Commodore  disk  is 
divided  into  35  tracks,  each  con- 
taining a  number  of  sectors  (see 
table  1).  Each  sector  contains  256 
bytes.  A  disk  has  a  total  of  683 
sectors,  but  only  664  are  available 
for  data  storage  because  the  direc- 
tory occupies  all  19  sectors  of  track 
18  (track  $12  in  hexadecimal). 

Disk  Editor  begins  by  reading 
track  $12,  sector  0,  and  displaying 
the  256  bytes  in  that  sector.  (All 
numbers  in  Disk  Editor  are  in  hexa- 
decimal for  better  screen  format- 
ting.) The  editing  cursor  appears  in 
the  upper-left  corner.  Move  it 
around  the  screen  with  the  cursor 
keys.  The  sector  currently  being 
displayed  is  indicated  at  the  top  of 
the  screen  along  with  the  track 
number  and  the  current  byte  num- 
ber within  the  sector.  Notice  how 
the  byte  number  changes  as  you 
move  the  cursor.  Press  the  HOME 
key  to  quickly  position  the  cursor  at 
the  upper-left  comer. 

To  make  a  change,  move  the 


cursor  to  the  desired  byte  and  type 
in  the  new  value.  This  doesn't 
change  the  actual  byte  on  the  disk. 
When  you've  made  all  the  changes 
you  want  on  that  sector,  press 
CTRL-W  to  write  the  sector  to  the 
disk. 

To  display  another  sector, 
press  +  and  type  the  new  track 
number  at  the  top  of  the  screen. 
Press  —  to  change  the  sector  num- 
ber. The  INST/DEL  key  allows  you 
to  correct  mistakes.  Then  press 
CTRL-R  to  read  the  sector  and  dis- 
play it  on  the  screen.  If  a  track  or 
sector  number  is  outside  the  range 
shown  in  Table  1,  Disk  Editor  prints 
ILLEGAL  TRACK  OR  SECTOR  and 
cancels  the  CTRL-R  command. 

Table  1:  Number  of 

sectors  per  track 

Track     Number  of  sectors 


1-17 

21 

18-24 

19 

25-30 

18 

31-35 

17 

Disk  Editor  checks  for  errors 
on  all  commands.  If  an  error  occurs, 
a  message  is  printed  and  the  com- 
mand is  aborted.  Press  any  key  to 
continue. 

To  quickly  get  to  an  adjacent 
sector,  hold  down  SHIFT  and  press 
+  or  — .  Pressing  +  with  SHIFT 
displays  the  next  highest  sector, 
and  pressing  —  with  SHIFT  dis- 
plays the  previous  sector. 

Another  way  to  move  around 
the  disk  is  CTRL-J  (Jump),  which 


48    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


uses  the  number  under  the  cursor  as 
the  track  and  the  number  in  the  next 
byte  as  the  sector.  This  is  handy  for 
jumping  to  chained  sectors. 

A  program  on  disk  is  stored  not 
in  sequential  sectors,  but  in  sectors 
scattered  about  the  disk.  To  link  all 
these  sectors  together,  the  first  two 
bytes  of  each  sector  contain  the 
track  and  sector  numbers  of  the 
next  sector  in  the  chain.  The  last 
sector  is  flagged  by  a  zero  in  the 
first  byte.  The  second  byte  contains 
the  number  of  bytes  used  in  the 
sector.  To  jump  to  a  chained  sector, 
press  HOME  to  put  the  cursor  on 
the  link  bytes,  then  press  CTRL-J. 

When  examining  sectors  con- 
taining a  BASIC  program  or  a  text 
file,  it's  helpful  to  display  the  bytes 
as  screen  code  or  ASCII  characters. 
CTRL-A  toggles  between  screen 
codes  and  hexadecimal  format. 
When  you're  in  screen  code  format, 
pressing  the  Commodore  and 
SHIFT  keys  together  toggles  be- 
tween ASCII  and  screen  code  for- 
mat. SpeedScripl  and  some  other 
word  processors  store  text  as  screen 
codes,  while  EasyScript  saves  docu- 
ments as  ASCII  codes. 

CTRL-$  displays  the  normal 
directory.  Hold  down  SHIFT  to 
pause  the  scrolling.  To  exit  the  pro- 
gram, press  CTRL-X.  It  also  closes 
all  files,  and  initializes  the  disk. 

Changing  The  BAM 

Bytes  $4-8F  of  sector  0  are  the  Block 
Allocation  Map  (BAM).  The  BAM  is 
divided  into  35  groups  of  four  bytes 
each,  one  group  for  each  track.  The 
first  byte  of  each  group  is  the  num- 
ber of  free  sectors  on  that  track.  Each 
bit  in  the  other  three  bytes  repre- 
sents a  sector  on  the  track.  If  a  bit  is 
on,  it  means  the  sector  is  free.  If  it's 
off,  the  sector  is  used. 


Track  $12,  the  directory,  con- 
tains all  the  information  about  how 
the  files  are  organized  on  the  disk. 
By  changing  a  few  bytes  in  this 
track,  you  can  perform  some  neat 
tricks.  Sector  0  contains  the  Block 
Allocation  Map  (BAM),  and  the 
other  sectors  store  the  directory  en- 
tries and  are  linked  by  the  first  two 
bytes  in  each  sector. 

Bytes  $2-lF  of  sector  1  contain 
information  about  the  first  file  in 
the  directory.  Byte  2  is  the  file  type. 
A  value  of  $82,  for  example,  indi- 
cates a  PRG  file.  By  setting  bit  6  of 
the  file  type,  you  can  lock  the  file  to 
keep  it  from  being  scratched.  Sim- 
ply change  the  8  to  a  C  and  remem- 
ber to  write  the  sector  to  the  disk 
with  CTRL-W.  If  you  display  the 
directory  with  CTRL-$,  you  should 
see  a  <  character  next  to  the  file 
type,  indicafing  a  locked  file. 

Bytes  3  and  4  contain  the  track 
and  sector  numbers  of  the  first  sec- 
tor that  the  file  is  stored.  You  can 
view  the  contents  of  the  file  by 
posiHoning  the  cursor  on  byte  3  and 
pressing  CTRL-J.  Press  CTRL-J 
again  to  jump  to  the  next  sector  in 
the  chain,  and  so  on. 

Recovering  A 
Scratched  File 

If  you  should  accidentally  scratch  a 
file,  you  can  unscratch  it  with  Disk 
Editor.  Follow  these  steps: 

1.  Don't  save  anything  to  the 
disk  with  the  scratched  file;  you 
may  overwrite  the  sectors  contain- 
ing the  program  or  data. 

2.  Load  Disk  Editor,  insert  the 
disk  to  be  altered,  and  SYS  12000. 

3.  Display  track  $12,  sector 
$00.  Press  CLR/HOME  to  go  to  the 
top  and  then  CTRL-J  (to  get  to  the 
first  track  of  directory  entries). 


Tabie  2:  Disic  Editor  Commands 


CTRL-A 

CTRL-J 

CTRL-R 

CTRL-W 

CTRL-X 

CTRL-$ 

SHIFT-Commodore 

SHIFT-H 

SHIFT— 

-I- 

INST/DEL 
HOME 
Cursor  keys 


Alternate  between  hexadecimal  and  screen  code. 

Jump  to  track  and  sector  under  cursor. 

Read  track  and  sector  at  lop  of  screen. 

Write  to  track  and  sector  at  top  of  screen. 

Exit  program. 

Display  directory  (SHIFT  to  pause). 

Toggle  between  screen  code  and  ASCII. 

Display  next  sector. 

Display  previous  sector. 

Set  track  number. 

Set  sector  number. 

Delete  a  character  when  entering  track  or  sector  number. 

Position  cursor  at  upper-le/l  comer. 

Move  cursor. 


4.  Switch  from  hex  to  ASCII,  to 
look  at  the  filenames,  which  should 
be  at  locations  $05,  $25,  $45,  and  so 
on.  If  the  file  to  be  unscratched  is 
not  in  the  sector,  press  CLR/HOME 
to  go  to  the  first  two  bytes  and  then 
CTRL-J,  to  jump  to  the  next  sector. 

5.  When  you've  located  the 
correct  directory  entry,  look  three 
bytes  to  the  left— $02,  $22,  $42,  etc. 
A  $00  in  this  location  marks  a 
scratched  file.  Change  it  to  $82  to 
make  it  a  program  file,  $81  for  a 
sequential  file. 

6.  Write  the  sector  back  to  the 
disk  with  CTRL-W  and  exit  with 
CTRL-X.  To  make  sure  the  BAM  is 
correctly  updated,  you  should  vali- 
date the  disk  with  the  line  OPEN 
15, 8,15, "VO".  This  process  may 
take  some  fime,  but  when  it's  done, 
the  file  has  been  restored.  © 


THE  RULER  CAD  SYSTEM 


Non  stop  drawing.  No  single  page  or  area 
selecting  necessary.  All  drawings  are 
made  on  a  continuous  scrolling  page  in 
memory  ttie  large  size  of  four  screen 
areas. 

Create  Symbols  to  use  where  needed,  up 
to  127  per  bank,  to  save  countless  hours  of 
design  time.   Or,   modify,   combine,  and 
rearrange    the    included    symt>ols.    You 
determine  which  symbols  are  in  memory. 
Utilites  included  on  the  disk. 
Erase  Mistakes  with  a  single  keypress. 
Duplicate  and  move  frequently  used  items 
from  a  current  or  previous  drawing, 
Lettering  has  three  text  sizes.  Small,  full 
size  and  large  for  documenting,  etc. 
Overlay  Grids  and  Ruler  for  alighning. 
Help  Screen  for  all  program  commands. 
Print  the  entire  drawing  to  scale  or  an 
enlarged  section  on  Star.  Gemini,  Epson, 
and  1525  series  printers. 
All  Disk  Commands  from  the  program. 
Supports  hard  and  multiple  disk  drives. 

Requirements:  CI 28  Computer,  disk 
drive,  minimum  128K  expansion  RAM, 
1350  mouse  or  Joystick,  (Mouse  recom- 
mended) 

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Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette    49 


Fast  File  Copier 


This  handy  disk  utility  does  more 
than  just  back  up  files;  it  also 
scratches,  renames,  formats,  and  vali- 
dates. It's  especially  helpful  when 
you're  reorganizing  your  disk  library. 
For  the  64  and  1541.  Also  works  on  a 
128  (in  64  mode)  and  the  1571. 


When  you  find  yourself  loading 
and  listing  50  (or  more)  disk  direc- 
tories just  to  find  one  program,  you 
know  it's  time  to  start  putting  your 
disks  in  some  sort  of  order.  But 
copying  programs  takes  a  lot  of 
time,  especially  if  you  have  to  load 
and  save  programs  one  at  a  time  to 
transfer  them  from  one  disk  to  an- 
other. There  are  much  more  inter- 
esting things  to  do  with  your 
computer  than  loading  and  saving. 
It  gets  worse  if  you  have  sequential 
files  rather  than  program  files. 
"Fast  File  Copier"  makes  it  easier  to 
make  single  or  mulhple  backups, 
eliminating  much  of  the  burden  of 
disk  organization. 

Fast  File  Copier  displays  all  the 
files  in  the  directory;  you  select  any 
or  all  of  them  by  merely  moving  the 
cursor  around  the  screen.  The  pro- 
gram loads  as  many  files  as  possible 
into  memory,  prompts  you  to  insert 
a  destination  disk,  and  then  saves 
the  programs  or  files  to  the  backup 
disk.  If  all  files  fit  in  memory  the 
first  time  around,  you're  done.  Oth- 
erwise, follow  the  prompts  until  the 
entire  procedure  is  completed. 
There's  no  need  to  remember  the 
names  of  the  files  or  how  to  spell 
them,  and  you  don't  even  have  to 
know  what  type  of  file  it  is  or  where 
it's  located.  Fast  File  Copier  handles 
everything  for  you.  Fast  File  Copier 
does  more  than  just  copying.  It  can 


Ross  Ouwingo 


also  delete  selected  files,  rename 
files,  and  validate  or  format  a  disk. 
There  are  menus  and  prompts  for 
every  function  so  there  is  no  need 
to  memorize  anything  to  use  the 
program.  Just  load,  run,  and  follow 
the  menus. 

Load  and  run  Fast  File  Copier 
just  as  you  would  any  BASIC  pro- 
gram. The  title  screen  will  appear 
and  prompt  you  to  insert  the  source 
disk.  Press  any  key  when  you're 
ready  to  get  started.  The  next  thing 
you  should  see  is  the  directory,  un- 
less there  are  no  files  on  the  disk  or 
the  disk  is  unformatted.  In  these 
cases,  the  type  of  problem  will  be 
displayed,  and  you'll  be  allowed  to 
quit,  insert  another  disk,  or  format 
the  disk. 

The  Directory 

The  directory  screen  makes  this 
program  easy  to  use.  At  the  top  of 
the  screen  is  the  menu  of  the  op- 
tions you  can  use.  Below  this  menu 
you'll  see  the  disk  directory  split 
into  two  columns.  Up  to  32  titles 
may  be  displayed  on  this  screen  at  a 
time.  If  there  are  more  than  32  files 
on  the  disk,  press  i7  and  the  next 
page  of  titles  will  be  displayed.  To 
return  to  the  previous  page,  press 
f5.  There  may  be  several  pages 
since  the  directory  has  room  for  up 
to  144  files  on  a  disk. 

If  you  look  closely  at  the  listing 
of  titles,  you  may  notice  that  some 
of  the  titles  have  a  comma  and  the 
letter  S,  U,  or  R  after  the  filename. 
This  indicates  that  a  file  is  a  sequen- 
tial, user,  or  relative  type.  Program 
files  are  unmarked.  This  feature  is 
only  for  your  reference;  it  does  not 
affect  how  you  use  any  of  the  func- 
tions in  this  program.  Don't  bother 


trying  to  copy  relative  files.  They're 
considerably  different  from  other 
types  of  files  and  cannot  be  copied 
with  the  techniques  used  by  the 
Fast  File  Copier. 

The  only  other  unusual  item 
that  may  appear  in  the  directory  is  a 
title  with  a  large  dot  at  the  end.  This 
indicates  that  the  file  is  unclosed  (a 
"poison"  file,  also  called  a  "splat" 
file)  and  you  will  not  be  allowed  to 
delete  or  copy  it.  If  an  unclosed  file 
appears  on  a  disk,  you  should  elim- 
inate it  by  validating  the  disk.  If  you 
don't  eliminate  an  unclosed  file,  se- 
rious problems  may  result  in  the 
directory.  To  validate  the  disk, 
press  f2. 

Copying  Files 

Before  copying  a  file,  you  must 
mark  it  so  the  Fast  File  Copier 
knows  which  one  to  copy.  Using 
the  CRSR  keys,  move  the  X-shaped 
cursor  in  front  of  the  file  to  be  cop- 
ied. When  the  cursor  is  positioned 
in  front  of  the  desired  title,  press  the 
space  bar  and  the  title  will  be 
changed  to  reverse  characters.  If 
you  change  your  mind,  press  the 
space  bar  again  and  the  title  will 
return  to  normal.  To  copy  more 
than  one  program,  move  the  cursor 
to  the  next  desired  title  and  press 
the  space  bar.  There  is  no  Hmit  on 
how  many  titles  you  may  select. 
You  may  even  switch  to  other 
pages  if  necessary.  All  titles  dis- 
played with  reverse  characters  will 
be  copied.  When  you've  made  your 
selections,  press  fl  to  start  the 
copying  procedure. 

The  copy  routine  begins  with  a 
prompt  to  make  sure  you  are  ready. 
If  you  change  your  mind,  press  fl 
again  and  you  will  return  to  the 


50    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


directory.  Press  any  other  key  to 
begin  copying.  The  program  will 
begin  with  the  first  title  in  the  direc- 
tory and  check  whether  you  select- 
ed it.  If  it  wasn't  selected,  it  will  skip 
to  the  next  one  until  it  finds  one  to 
copy.  It  then  checks  whether  the 
file  will  fit  into  the  available  memo- 
ry. If  there  is  sufficient  space,  the 
file  is  loaded. 

The  program  continues  to 
check  each  of  the  selected  files  and 
loads  them  as  long  as  there  is  room 
in  memory.  If  a  file  is  too  big  to  be 
loaded,  it  is  skipped  until  the  next 
pass.  After  as  many  files  as  possible 
have  been  loaded  into  memory, 
you  are  prompted  to  insert  the  des- 
tination disk  and  press  a  key  when 
you're  ready.  Again,  if  you  change 
your  mind,  press  fl  to  abort  the 
backup.  If  your  sound  is  turned  up, 
you'll  hear  a  chime  to  let  you  know 
that  the  program  is  waiting  for  you 
to  switch  disks. 

After  all  the  files  are  saved,  the 
program  checks  to  see  whether 
there  were  any  files  that  were  not 
loaded  on  the  first  pass.  If  no  more 
files  are  to  be  copied,  you  will  be 
asked  if  you  want  to  copy  the  same 
files  again  to  another  disk  or  begin 
work  on  another  disk  or  quit  the 
program  altogether. 

A  maximum  of  49664  (about 
48K)  bytes  of  RAM  is  available  for 
copying.  This  works  out  to  194 
blocks.  Files  larger  than  this  cannot 
be  copied  by  this  program.  The 
amount  of  memory  available  varies 
slightly  depending  on  how  many 
titles  are  on  the  disk.  All  memory 
between  2047  {$07FF)  and  53248 
($D000)  is  used  for  storage  of  load- 
ed programs. 

The  disk  drive  status  message 
is  displayed  each  time  after  the  disk 
drive  has  been  accessed.  This  is 
handy  information  if  there  is  a 
problem  copying  any  of  the  files. 

Fast  File  Copier  is  written  so 
that  fast  load  cartridges  such  as  Fast 
Load  from  Epyx  may  be  used  while 
copying.  This  will  speed  up  the 
loading  of  the  files,  but  it  will  not 
speed  up  the  saving  of  the  files. 
(Sorry,  "TurboDisk"  will  not  work 
in  conjunction  with  this  program.) 

Scratching  Files 

An  important  feature  that  is  neces- 
sary after  copying  files  is  the  ability 
to  delete  them  from  the  source  disk 


when  they're  no  longer  needed. 
With  the  Fast  File  Copier  this  is  just 
as  easy  to  do  as  copying  files.  Mere- 
ly mark  the  files  you  want  to  delete 
and  press  f3. 

There  are  two  ways  to  proceed 
from  this  point.  If  you  want  all  the 
marked  files  to  be  deleted  automat- 
ically, press  the  A  key.  If  you're  not 
too  sure  of  yourself,  press  the  V 
key.  This  option  will  stop  at  each 
fitle  and  ask  you  if  you  are  sure.  If 
you  want  the  file  deleted,  press  the 
Y  key.  If  you  don't  want  it  deleted, 
press  the  N  key  and  it  will  skip  to 
the  next  fitle.  When  all  the  selected 
files  are  deleted,  you  will  be  asked 
to  press  any  key  to  continue.  You 
may  insert  another  disk  at  this  fime 
or  keep  the  present  disk  in  the 
drive.  Press  a  key,  and  the  directory 
of  the  disk  will  be  loaded  and  dis- 
played and  you  may  continue  again 
with  any  of  the  options  shown  on 
the  directory  screen. 

Renaming  Fiies 

It  is  sometimes  desirable  to  change 
the  names  of  certain  files  after 
transferring  them  to  another  disk. 
This  is  done  much  the  same  way  as 


copying  or  deleting  files.  First,  mark 
all  the  titles  you  would  like  to  re- 
name and  press  f4.  The  old  name  of 
each  file  will  be  displayed,  and  you 
are  asked  to  type  in  a  new  name.  If 
you  press  RETURN  without  typing 
anything  else,  the  file  will  not  be 
renamed.  The  new  name  may  be 
only  16  characters  long.  If  more 
than  16  characters  are  typed  in, 
only  the  first  16  will  be  used. 

Formatting  And  Vaiidating 

Formatting  and  validating  a  disk  is 
straightforward.  You  will  be  asked 
to  type  in  a  disk  name  and  ID 
before  formatfing.  Remember  that 
formatfing  erases  everything  on  the 
disk,  so  be  careful  with  this  func- 
tion. Validating  only  requires  you 
to  type  any  key  when  you're  sure 
you're  ready.  Both  funcfions  will 
allow  you  to  abort  by  pressing  fl. 
When  you're  through  using 
Fast  File  Copier,  you  may  return  to 
BASIC  by  pressing  Q.  Quitfing  this 
way  is  much  the  same  as  pressing 
RUN/STOP-RESTORE,  except  the 
screen  is  cleared  and  the  colors  are 
changed  back  to  normal.  ® 


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A 


Omega  Sort 


Written  entirely  in  machine  language, 
this  fast  sorting  routine  for  the  Com- 
modore 64  can  be  used  by  anyone  and 
does  not  take  away  any  space  from 
BASIC  memory. 


If  you  write  programs  that  handle 
data,  sooner  or  later  you  will  need  a 
routine  to  sort  items  into  alphabeti- 
cal order.  There  are  several  sorting 
methods  suitable  for  use  in  BASIC, 
including  the  bubble  sort,  shell  sort, 
and  quick  sort.  None  of  those  meth- 
ods, however,  is  very  efficient  for 
sorting  large  amounts  of  data. 

"Omega  Sort"  is  a  speedy  ma- 
chine language  routine  which  you 
can  use  in  any  BASIC  program, 
even  if  you  don't  know  a  thing 
about  machine  language. 

Omega  Sort  can  sort  1000  ran- 
domly ordered  strings  in  alphabeti- 
cal order  in  less  than  six  seconds. 
To  see  the  routine  at  work,  load  and 
run  the  program  "OMIGA.DEMO". 

When  you  run  OMIGA.DEMO, 
it  loads  the  machine  language  rou- 
tine (OMIGA  SORT)  from  disk  into 
memory.  Then  it  prompts  you  to 
enter  the  number  of  strings  you 
wish  to  sort.  To  create  1000  random 
strings,  for  instance,  type  1000  and 
press  RETURN.  The  program  prints 
all  of  the  strings  on  the  screen  in 
their  original  order,  then  it  sorts 
them  alphabetically.  When  the 
sorting  is  done,  the  program  dis- 
plays the  strings  in  the  new  order, 
one  screenful  at  a  time.  Press  any 


Jonathan  J,  Holuta 


key  to  view  the  next  page  of  data,  or 
press  fl  to  exit  the  program. 

How  To  Use  It 

To  use  Omega  Sort,  your  program 
must  begin  by  loading  the  machine 
language  routine  into  memory.  The 
first  line  of  OMIGA.DEMO  demon- 
strates how  this  is  done. 

Some  machine  language  sort- 
ing routines  sort  only  one  dimen- 
sion of  a  multidimensional  array, 
which  is  not  always  convenient.  To 
demonstrate  why,  suppose  that  you 
have  an  address  file  program  that 
stores  a  list  of  names  and  addresses 
in  a  two-dimensional  array  as  shown 
here: 

N$(l,l)  =  name  1 

N$(l,2}  =  street  1 
N$(l,3)  =  city  1 

N$(l,4)  =  state  1 
N$(l,5)  =  zip  code  1 
N$(l,6)  =  phone  1 

Each  full  entry  contains  six 
separate  items:  the  name,  street, 
city,  state,  zip  code,  and  phone 
number.  In  a  real  program,  of 
course,  you  might  have  dozens  or 
even  hundreds  of  such  entries.  The 
name  for  entry  2  would  be  con- 
tained in  N$(2,l),  and  so  forth. 

If  you  sort  the  first  dimension  of 
this  array  (name),  then  the  names 
will  be  mismatched  vrith  the  other 
data  items.  The  name  for  entry 
number  1  might  be  matched  with 
the  street  for  entry  36,  and  so  on. 

Instead  of  sorting  the  strings 
themselves.  Omega  Sort  sorts  a  nu- 
meric index  array.  Each  element  of 


the  numeric  array  points  to  one 
data  set  in  the  string  array.  The 
advantage  of  this  method  is  that  all 
the  items  within  each  data  set  re- 
main in  their  original  order.  In  ad- 
dition to  great  speed,  this  gives  you 
more  flexibility  in  using  string  arrays. 
In  OMIGA.DEMO,  the  string 
array  is  named  A$,  and  the  index 
array  is  named  N%.  Note  that  the 
index  array  must  be  an  integer  ar- 
ray (one  whose  name  ends  with  %). 
Any  legal  Commodore  variable 
names  may  be  used,  provided  you 
follow  this  simple  rule. 

Calling  Ttie 
Mactiine  Language 

Like  other  machine  language  rou- 
tines, Omega  Sort  is  called  with  a 
SYS  command.  In  addition  to  the 
command  itself,  which  includes  the 
starting  address  of  the  machine 
code,  you  must  supply  three  items 
of  information:  the  number  of  ele- 
ments to  sort,  the  name  of  the  string 
array,  and  the  name  of  the  index 
array.  Here  is  an  example: 
100  SYS  49152,N,N$(0),N%(0> 

In  this  statement,  the  variable 
N  indicates  the  number  of  elements 
to  be  sorted,  and  the  variable  N$(0) 
indicates  the  name  of  the  array  you 
wish  to  sort.  If  there  are  40  ele- 
ments in  the  N$  array,  for  instance, 
you  would  set  N  to  40  before  exe- 
cuting line  100.  Or,  you  could  just 
replace  N  with  the  number  40.  The 
variable  N%  is  the  index  array. 

Once  the  sorting  is  complete. 


52     Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


the  index  array  contains  the  new 
order.  To  gain  access  to  the  sorted 
data,  you  must  refer  to  elements  of 
the  string  array  through  the  index. 
Look  at  line  110  of  OMIGA.DEMO. 
The  expression  A${A%(X))  causes 
PRINT  to  display  the  elements  of 
A$  in  the  order  contained  in  the 
A%  array.  Remember,  Omega  Sort 
rearranges  the  order  of  the  numeric 
index  array,  not  the  string  array 
itself.  Each  element  of  the  index 
array  points  to  one  element  of  the 
string  array. 

The  SYS  statement  for  a  multi- 
dimensional array  is  the  same,  except 
that  you  must  specify  which  dimen- 
sion to  sort.  Here  is  an  example: 

100  SYS  49152,N,N$(0,3),N%(0) 

For  the  address  array  men- 
tioned above,  the  preceding  state- 
ment would  sort  the  addresses 
according  to  the  array's  third 
dimension  (city).  This  statement 
would  sort  it  according  to  the  first 
dimension  (name): 
100  SYS  49152,N,N$(0,1),N%(0) 

This  statement  would  sort  the 
address  array  by  its  fifth  element 
(zip  code): 

100  SYS  49152,N,N$(0,5),N%(0t 

Here  is  an  example  line  that 
would  print  the  elements  of  the 
address  array  in  their  new  order: 

110  FOR  X-O  TO  N:PRINT 

X,N$(N%(X),5):NEXT 

You  can  use  this  routine  with- 
out knowing  how  it  works,  but,  for 
those  who  are  interested,  here  is  a 
brief  explanation.  Omega  Sort  first 
stores  important  zero  page  pointers 
in  the  cassette  buffer  so  it  can  use 
these  locations  for  its  own  pur- 
poses. Then  it  determmes  where  in 
memory  the  arrays  reside.  In  the 
case  of  strings,  the  actual  text  is 
stored  from  the  top  of  BASIC  mem- 
ory in  a  downward  direction.  The 
array  storage  space  (located  just 
above  the  end  of  BASIC  program 
text)  contains  a  series  of  pointers  to 
the  strings  in  high  memory.  Omega 
Sort  checks  the  pointers  and  then 
changes  the  values  of  the  integer 
array  to  match  the  alphabetical  or- 
der of  the  strings  themselves.  When 
finished,  it  restores  the  contents  of 
the  zero  page  and  returns  to  BASIC. 
The  entire  process  works  so  quickly 
that  it  can  sort  a  hundred  strings  in 
less  than  a  second.  @ 


Automatic 

Syntax 

Checker 


Philip  I.  Nelson 


How  many  times  have  you  typed 
PRNIT  instead  of  PRINT,  or  LIT  in- 
stead of  LIST?  When  it  comes  to  typ- 
ing, none  of  us  is  perfect.  This 
automatic  utility  for  the  Commodore 
64  can  save  you  a  lot  of  time  by 
catching  such  mistakes  before  they're 
added  to  your  programs. 


Unlike  some  other  computers,  the 
Commodore  64  doesn't  check 
BASIC  lines  for  errors  as  you  type 
them  in.  We  all  know  a  line  like  010 
MONKEY(BIZ)*5-DOGA$#  is  non- 
sense, but  in  many  ways  the  com- 
puter treats  it  as  normal  BASIC. 
You  can  type  in  that  line,  list  it, 
renumber  it,  even  save  it  as  a  pro- 
gram and  load  it  back  into  memory 
without  any  protest  from  your  64. 

When  a  line  starts  with  a  num- 
ber, the  computer  simply  stores  it  in 
BASIC  memory — no  questions 
asked.  The  64,  like  all  other  Com- 
modore computers,  can't  find  mis- 
takes until  it's  running  a  program. 
As  a  result,  after  spending  hours 
writing  a  program,  you  may  spend 
hours  more  watching  it  crash  until 
you've  corrected  all  the  typing 
errors. 

"Automatic  Syntax  Checker" 
eliminates  that  headache  by  adding 
automatic  error  checking  to  your 
Commodore  64's  BASIC.  Once  the 
Syntax  Checker  is  installed,  the 
computer  automatically  checks  ev- 
ery BASIC  line  you  type  in.  If  the 


line  is  free  of  typing  errors,  it's 
added  to  your  program  as  usual.  If 
not,  the  Syntax  Checker  prints  an 
error  message  and  lets  you  try 
again.  Since  the  line  isn't  correct, 
the  Syntax  Checker  doesn't  add  it 
to  your  program. 

Getting  Started 

Although  Automatic  Syntax 
Checker  is  written  entirely  in  ma- 
chine language,  you  load  and  run  it 
as  you  would  any  BASIC  program. 
Do  not  try  to  start  this  program  with 
SYS.  Because  it  handles  like  BASIC, 
it's  easy  to  make  new  copies  of  the 
Syntax  Checker  as  well.  Simply 
save  it  on  a  new  disk  or  tape  as  you 
would  a  BASIC  program. 

When  you  run  the  Syntax 
Checker,  it  moves  itself  from  BASIC 
program  space  to  a  safe  memory 
location  at  49152.  After  a  brief  prep- 
aration, it  performs  a  NEW  to  let 
you  type  in  your  own  programs. 
When  you  see  the  message  CHECK- 
ER ON,  you  know  the  Checker  is 
ready  to  go.  Since  this  utility  does 
NEW  after  installing  itself,  you 
should  always  run  it  before  you  load 
or  type  in  any  other  program. 

Although  you  can  run  BASIC 
programs  while  the  Syntax  Checker 
is  active,  some  programs  may 
POKE  into  the  same  memory  space 
at  49152  or  disrupt  it  in  other  ways. 
Thus,  it's  wise  to  turn  the  Syntax 
Checker  off  before  you  run  any 
BASIC  program.  Type  SYS  49152 
and  press  RETURN:  The  message 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     53 


CHECKER  OFF  tells  you  the  sys- 
tem is  back  to  normal.  To  turn  the 
Checker  back  on,  enter  SYS  49152 
again  (it  won't  do  a  NEW  this  time). 
Once  the  Syntax  Checker  is  in- 
stalled, SYS  49152  turns  it  on  or  off 
safely,  whenever  you  want,  with- 
out disturbing  the  BASIC  program 
in  memory. 

Automatic  Error  Checking 

When  the  Syntax  Checker  is  active, 
it  analyzes  every  line  you  type  into 
the  computer.  If  you  type  a  com- 
mand in  direct  mode  (without  a  line 
number),  the  Syntax  Checker  sim- 
ply passes  it  along  to  the  computer 
(Commodore  BASIC  can  find  direct 
mode  errors  by  itself).  Thus,  you  can 
use  direct  commands  as  usual  to 
load  and  save  programs,  and  so  on. 
However,  when  you  put  a 
number  at  the  beginning  of  the  line, 
the  Syntax  Checker  scans  every- 
thing in  the  line  to  make  sure  it's 
correct  BASIC.  If  no  error  message 
appears,  then  you  know  the  line  is 
correct— that  is,  it's  all  BASIC  that 
the  computer  can  understand.  To 
demonstrate,  run  the  Syntax  Check- 
er, then  type  in  the  following  line: 

10  PRINT  "HI" 

Since  this  line  has  no  errors, 
the  64  behaves  normally.  After  you 
press  RETURN,  the  blinking  cursor 
goes  to  the  next  line  on  the  screen. 
You  can  list  this  program  to  confirm 
that  it's  there,  or  run  it  to  see  if  it 
works.  Now  let's  force  an  error. 
Move  the  cursor  up  and  type  over 
line  10  so  it  looks  like  this: 

10  PNIRT  "HI" 

Because  PNIRT  isn't  a  BASIC 
word,  the  Syntax  Checker  prints 
SYNTAX  ERROR.  List  the  program 
again  to  see  whether  the  computer 
replaced  the  good  line  with  a  bad 
one.  As  you'll  see,  the  first  (correct) 
version  of  line  10  is  still  there.  The 
Syntax  Checker  won't  let  you  add 
or  change  any  lines  in  a  program 
unless  they're  free  of  typing  errors. 
This  feature  makes  it  handy  for 
editing  existing  programs  as  well  as 
writing  new  ones. 

Phantom  BASiC 

The  Syntax  Checker  does  far  more 
than  check  BASIC  keywords  Hke 
PRINT  for  correct  spelling.  It  passes 
judgment  on  everything  else  in  the 
BASIC  line  as  well.  Using  a  modi- 


fied version  of  BASIC,  it  performs  a 
phantom  execution  of  each  new  line, 
performing  most  of  the  same  error 
checks  BASIC  would  use  if  you  ran 
the  line  in  a  program. 

To  do  this,  the  Syntax  Checker 
switches  out  the  computer's  BASIC 
and  switches  in  a  special,  modified 
BASIC  which  it  prepared  when  you 
started  it  up.  The  phantom  BASIC 
"runs"  the  line  to  perform  normal 
error  checks,  but  stops  short  of  ac- 
tually completing  the  commands. 
This  method  can  flush  out  a  multi- 
tude of  errors,  including  missing 
colons  in  multistatement  lines,  mis- 
placed commas  and  parentheses, 
type  mismatches  (putting  a  string 
where  a  number  belongs,  and  vice 
versa),  missing  parameters,  illegal 
operations  (like  A$  =  B$-C$)  and 
many  illegal  quantity  errors  as  well. 

Runtime  Errors 

But  there  are  certain  things  the  Syn- 
tax Checker  cannot  do.  A  program 
can  contain  innumerable  flaws  even 
when  each  of  its  lines  is  syntactically 
correct.  To  illustrate,  type  NEW  and 
press  RETURN,  then  type  in  the 
following  line  and  enter  RUN. 

1000  NEXT 

The  NEXT  statement  in  line 

1000  is  perfectly  good  BASIC— the 
64  understands  exactly  what  it 
means — but  NEXT  only  makes 
sense  when  it's  preceded  with  a 
matching  FOR  statement.  This  is  a 
runtime  error,  so  called  because  it 
can't  possibly  be  detected  without 
running  the  program.  When  you 
type  in  this  line  by  itself,  the  Syntax 
Checker  can  tell  that  NEXT  is  a 
word  from  the  BASIC  language,  but 
there's  no  way  it  can  tell  whether 
it's  logical  to  put  NEXT  at  that  par- 
ticular point  in  the  program.  There 
are  many  runtime  errors  (DEVICE 
NOT  PRESENT,  OUT  OF  DATA, 
etc.)  which  can't  be  found  until  a 
program  is  finished  and  running. 
Thus,  while  the  Syntax  Check- 
er looks  after  the  fundamentals, 
catching  obvious  mistakes,  it's  up  to 
you,  the  programmer,  to  make  sure 
your  creation  makes  sense  as  a 
whole.  It  can't  read  your  mind  to 
figure  out  what  you  really  meant  the 
program  to  do.  Though  it  eases  the 
burden  of  programming,  the  Syntax 
Checker  can't  perform  magic: 
There's  no  way  it  can  turn  a  badly 


structured,  illogical  program  into 
something  that  works,  and  certain 
errors  are  simply  beyond  its  scope. 

Qulrl(S  And  Compatibility 

You  should  also  keep  in  mind  that 
ordinary  BASIC  lets  you  do  some 
very  odd  things  without  signalling 
an  error.  LIST  10-30ABCDEF  looks 
very  strange,  but  doesn't  cause  an 
error.  DIM  A(5.001,26.3)  is  silly 
(you  can't  dimension  a  fractional 
number  of  array  elements),  but 
there's  no  "illegal  fraction"  error 
message  to  tell  you  about  it. 

In  short,  BASIC  has  some 
built-in  limitations  when  it  comes 
to  error  checking.  Fortunately,  most 
of  its  quirks  are  rarely  encountered, 
and  the  ones  shown  above  don't 
cause  any  real  harm.  But  because 
the  Syntax  Checker  uses  existing 
BASIC  routines,  it's  subject  to  the 
same  quirks  and  anomalies.  It 
doesn't  sense  errors  that  BASIC  it- 
self can't  detect. 

You  may  already  have  won- 
dered whether  the  Syntax  Checker 
can  be  used  along  with  other  pro- 
grams like  "MetaBASIC."  The  Syn- 
tax Checker  works  with  MetaBASIC. 
However,  MetaBASIC's  QUIT  com- 
mand turns  off  the  Syntax  Checker, 
too.  So  unless  you  want  to  turn  off 
both  programs  at  once,  you  must 
restart  the  Checker  with  SYS  49152 
whenever  you  QUIT  MetaBASIC. 
As  you  may  know  already,  the 
more  utilities  concurrently  acHve, 
the  more  fragile  the  system  is  likely 
to  become.  No  matter  what  other 
programs  you're  using  at  the  time, 
it's  always  best  to  disable  the  Syn- 
tax Checker  with  SYS  49152  before 
you  run  a  BASIC  program. 

Space  doesn't  permit  a  detailed 
explanation  of  how  this  program 
works,  but  here's  a  brief  synopsis. 
When  the  Syntax  Checker  sets  up, 
it  copies  BASIC  and  the  computer's 
operating  system  (OS)  from  their 
normal  places  in  ROM  (Read-Only 
Memory)  into  underlying  free 
memory,  then  modifies  them  exten- 
sively. When  you  enter  a  numbered 
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puter's ROM  and  uses  the  modified 
BASIC  and  OS.  After  it  scans  the 
input  line,  the  Syntax  Checker 
either  adds  it  to  the  program  or 
signals  an  error.  In  both  cases, 
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54    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


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X  BASIC 


This  powerful  BASIC  extension  for 
the  Commodore  64  focuses  on  two  of 
the  most  complex  areas  to  program: 
graphics  and  sound.  With  33  new 
commands,  it  offers  control  of  high- 
resolution  screens,  character  and 
screen  display  functions,  sprites,  and 
sound. 


Two  of  the  most  complex  and  te- 
dious areas  of  programming  on  the 
64  are  graphics  and  sound.  Even 
some  of  the  most  elementary 
graphics  and  sound  rouhnes  re- 
quire a  lot  of  programming  time 
and  long  strings  of  POKEs.  "X 
BASIC"  (extended  BASIC)  is  a  pro- 
grammer's language  that  does 
much  of  the  difficult  programming 
for  you,  allowing  you  more  time  to 
design  and  experiment. 

Written  entirely  in  machine 
language,  X  BASIC  adds  33  graph- 
ics and  sound  commands  to  BASIC: 
7  commands  for  hi-res;  7  for  screen 
and  character  functions;  6  for  sprite 
creation  and  manipulation;  10  for 
sound;  2  for  joystick  control;  and  1 
for  exiting  the  program. 

To  load  X  BASIC,  type  LOAD 
"X  BASIC",84.  To  activate  it,  type 
NEW  and  press  ENTER,  then  type 
SYS  49152. 

All  commands  can  be  used  in 
direct  mode  as  well  as  program 
mode.  Some  commands  need  to  be 
followed  by  one  or  more  parame- 
ters consisting  of  numbers  or 
strings.  The  parameters  can  be  vari- 
ables (X  or  N$)  or  actual  values  (5  or 
"HELLO").  Numeric  parameters 
must  be  within  a  specified  range. 
Attempting  to  use  a  number  that's 
outside  the  range  of  legal  values 
results  in  an  ILLEGAL  QUANTITY 
error.  Also,  if  you  try  to  use  a  num- 
ber for  a  parameter  which  requires 
a  string,  or  vice  versa,  you'll  receive 


Kevin  Mortin 

a  TYPE  MISMATCH  ERROR.  (Note: 
All  X  BASIC  commands  are  in  boldface 
capital  letters.  Command  parameters 
follow  in  boldface  lowercase  letters.) 

Hi-Res  Graphics 
Commands 

HIRES:  Turns  on  the  hi-res  screen 
and  sets  it  to  multicolor  mode.  {All 
hi-res  graphics  in  X  BASIC  are  set 
up  for  multicolor  mode.)  The  hi-res 
screen  is  located  underneath  the 
Kernal  ROM  starting  at  $E000.  You 
can  POKE  directly  to  the  screen,  but 
you  can't  PEEK  the  screen  unless 
you  switch  out  the  Kernal. 
TEXT:  Returns  to  normal  text  mode. 
Always  use  TEXT  to  go  from  hi-re$ 
mode  to  normal  display.  Do  not  exit 
hi-res  with  RUN /STOP-RESTORE. 
CLEAR  colorO,colorl, color!, 
colorS:  Clears  the  hi-res  screen  and 
lets  you  choose  the  colors  for  plot- 
ting. ColorO  corresponds  to  the  01  bit 
pair,  colorl  the  10  bit  pair,  and 
color!  the  11  bit  pair.  Color3  is  the 
background  color.  The  values  for 
the  colors  correspond  to  the  POKE 
values  in  the  range  0-15. 

COLR  color#'.  Selects  the  color  for 
the  PLOT  and  LINE  commands  on 
the  hi-res  screen.  Its  parameter  al- 
lows you  to  select  one  of  the  four 
colors  (0-3)  defined  by  the  CLEAR 
command. 

PLOT  x,y:  Plots  a  point  on  the  hi- 
res screen  in  the  current  color.  If  the 
color  is  3  (the  background  color),  it 
effectively  erases  a  point.  The  x- 
coordinate  is  the  distance  from  the 
left  edge  of  the  screen  and  ranges 
between  0-159.  The  y-coordinate  is 
the  distance  from  the  top  of  the 
screen  between  0-199. 
LINE  xl,yl  TO  x2,y!:  Draws  a  line 
between  xl,yl  and  x!,y!  in  the  cur- 
rent color  (or  erases  like  PLOT).  The 
x-coordinates  range  between  0-159, 


the  y-coordinates  between  0-199. 
HPRNT  string:  Prints  a  string  on 
the  hi-res  screen  at  the  location  set 
by  LOCATE  (see  below).  When  the 
hi-res  screen  is  in  multicolor  mode, 
the  characters  will  appear  distorted. 
Multicolor  mode  can  be  turned  off 
with  the  MULTI  0  command. 
HPRNT  defaults  to  the  uppercase/ 
graphics  character  set.  If  you'd  pre- 
fer the  upper/ lowercase  set,  enter 
this  line:  POKE  50819,216.  To  re- 
turn to  uppercase/graphics,  POKE 
50819,208.  You  can  mix  characters 
from  the  two  character  sets  on  the 
same  screen. 

Screen  And 
Character  Commands 

BRDR  colori^:  Sets  border  color. 
Co/or#  must  be  a  number  from 
0-15. 

SCREEN  color#:  Sets  screen  color. 
Colortt  must  be  a  number  from 
0-15. 

CENTER  string:  Centers  a  string  of 
characters  on  the  current  line  of 
text,  then  prints  a  RETURN.  The 
string  must  be  1-38  characters  long. 

LOCATE  x,y:  Positions  the  current 
printing  location  on  the  text  or  hi- 
res screen  to  x,y.  X  must  be  between 
0-39,  and  Y  between  0-24. 
MULTI  0  or  MULTI  l,co/or2, 
color!:  MULTI  0  turns  off  multicol- 
or mode.  MULTI  1  (with  the  two 
color  parameters,  between  0-15) 
turns  on  multicolor  mode.  Colorl 
corresponds  to  the  01  bit  pair,  and 
color!  the  10  bit  pair. 
EXTND  0  or  EXTND  l,colorl, 
color!,color3:  EXTND  0  turns  off 
extended  background  mode. 
EXTND  1  (with  background  color 
parameters,  between  0-15)  turns 
on  extended  background  mode. 
Characters  with  a  POKE  value  of 
64-127  use   colorl    for   the   back- 


56    Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


ground,  characters  128-191  use 
color2,  and  characters  192-255  use 
color3.  Note:  extended  background 
color  mode  cannot  be  used  when  the 
hi-res  screen  is  turned  on. 
CSET  block:  Copies  the  uppercase 
character  set  from  ROM  to  RAM  at 
&/ocA:*1024,  Block  should  be  a  num- 
ber between  1-15.  This  command 
is  handy  when  using  custom  char- 
acters. You  may  have  to  prevent 
BASIC  and  the  character  set  from 
interfering  with  each  other  by  mov- 
ing the  bottom  (or  top)  of  memory. 

Here's  a  short  program  that 
demonstrates  the  use  of  some  of  the 
hi-res  and  screen  and  character 
commands  above.  After  X  BASIC  is 
activated,  type  in  this  program  and 
run  it.  You  might  try  changing 
some  of  the  X  BASIC  command 
parameters  for  various  effects. 

100  BRDRO 

110  HIRES 

120  CLEAR  1,2,3,4 

130  LOCATE  10,10 

140  HPRINT  "HELLO" 

150  FOR  I  =  0TO3 

IW  COLRI 

170  LINE  0,0X0159,159 

180  LINE  0,199  TO  159,0 

190  NEXT 

200  GETA$:IFA$  =  ""THEN150 

210  TEXT 

220  END 

Sprite  Commands 

All  of  the  sprite  commands  are  for 
use  in  text  mode  only.  You  cannot 
use  these  commands  for  putting 
sprites  on  a  hi-res  screen. 

SPRITE  sprite  if, blocKcolor:  De- 
fines a  sprite.  Sprite^  is  the  sprite 
number  (0-7),  block  is  the  block 
number  of  the  sprite  definition 
(0-255),  and  color  is  the  sprite  color 
(0-15).  The  sprite  shapes  can  be  put 
in  any  free  area  of  memory  from 
0-16383.  You  may  have  to  move 
the  bottom  or  top  of  memory  to 
avoid  memory  conflicts. 
SPRAT  sprite  #,xexp,yexp,priori- 
ty,multi'.  Sets  the  sprite  attributes 
(characteristics).  To  turn  an  attri- 
bute on,  use  1;  to  turn  it  off,  use  0. 
Xexp  expands  in  the  x-direction, 
yexp  in  the  y-direction.  The  priority 
parameter  determines  whether  the 
sprite  has  priority  over  screen  char- 
acters. For  example,  if  you  want  a 
sprite  to  pass  over  a  screen  charac- 
ter, the  sprite  has  priority,  thus  a 
parameter  of  1.  If  the  sprite  is  to 
pass  under  a  screen  character,  the 


parameter  should  be  0.  The  multi 
parameter  makes  the  sprite  multi- 
colored. The  colors  are  specified 
with  SPRMULT. 

SPRMULT  colorl,color2: 

SPRMULT  sets  the  two  additional 
sprite  colors  used  in  multicolor 
mode.  The  parameters  must  be 
within  0-15. 

ASPRITE  sprite^:   Activates  a 
sprite.  Sprite-^  must  be  0-7. 
DSPRITE  sprite*:  Deactivates  a 
sprite.  Sprite#  must  be  0-7. 

MOVE  sprite  if  ,x,y:  Moves  a  sprite 
to  the  coordinates  (x,y),  based  on  the 
upper  lefthand  comer  of  the  sprite. 
Sprite^  must  be  0-7.  X  must  be  in 
the  range  0-511,  y  in  the  range 
0-255.  Note  that  the  coordinates  do 
not  correspond  to  the  screen  coordi- 
nates; some  locations  may  cause 
sprites  to  be  partially  or  completely 
off  the  visible  screen  area. 

This  short  program  is  a  basic 
example  of  how  to  create  and  ani- 
mate a  sprite: 

100  BRDR  OrSCREEN  11 

110  SPRITE  1,123,7 

120  SPRMULT  1,3 

130  ASPRITE  1 

140  FOR  J  =  0  TO  liSPRAT  1,J,J,J,J 

150  FOR  I=0TO350 

160  MOVE  1,L100 

170  NEXTLJ 

Sound  Commands 

SID:  Clears  the  SID  (sound)  chip. 
VOL  volume#:  Sets  the  volume 
register.  VolumeiP  must  be  0-15. 

ENVELOPE  voice #M,sr(,pulse 
width):  Sets  the  attack,  decay,  sus- 
tain, release,  and  optionally  (paren- 
theses indicate  an  optional 
parameter)  the  pulse  width.  Voiced 
must  be  1-3.  Ad  (attack  and  decay) 
and  sr  (sustain  and  release)  each 
must  be  in  the  range  0-255.  Pulse 
width  must  be  in  the  range  0-4095. 

WAVE  voice  it,  waveform(sync) 
(ring):  Sets  the  waveform.  You 
must  specify  the  voice  number  fol- 
lowed by  T,  S,  P,  or  N  for  triangle, 
sawtooth,  pulse,  and  noise,  respec- 
tively. Optionally,  you  can  add  s  for 
synchronization,  and  r  for  ring 
modulation.  Here  are  some  exam- 
ples: WAVE  1,TSR  (triangle  wave- 
form with  synchronization  and  ring 
modulation);  WAVE  3,PR  (pulse 
waveform  with  ring  modulation); 
WAVE  2,SS  (sawtooth  waveform 
with  synchronization). 


Quick  Reference  Chart  For  X 
BASIC  Commands 

Hi-Res  Graphics  Commands 

HIRES 

TEXT 

CLEAR  color0,colorl,color2,color3 

COLR  color  # 

PLOT:r,y 

LINE  xl.yl  TO  x2,y2 

HPRNT  string 

Screen  And  Character  Commands 

BRDR  color # 

SCREEN  color# 

CENTER  string 

LOCATE  x,y 

MULTI  0  or  MULTI  l.colorl,color2 

EXTND  0  or  EXTND  Uolorl,color2, 

colors 

CSET  block 

Sprite  Commands 

SPRITE  sprite  »,block,color 

SPRAT  sprite  #,xexp,yexp,prioritt(,multi 

SPRMULT  colorl,coior2 

ASPRITE  sprite  # 

DSPRITE  sprite  it 

MOVE  spritelt.x.y 

Sound  Commands 

SID 

VOL  volume  *t 

ENVELOPE  voice*t.ad.sr(,pulse  width) 

y/AVE  voice #,waveform(st/ttcXring) 

FRQ  voice  #, frequency 

GATE  voice  k, on /off 

FCUT  cutoff 

FRSN  resonance 

FMODE  type 

FILTER  voice  », on /off 

Joystick  Commands 

STICK  joystick  # 

BTN  joystick  it 

(joysticktt's  must  be  in  parentheses) 

Reset  Command 

QUIT 


FRQ  voice  if, frequency:  Sets  the 
frequency  in  the  range  0-65535. 
Voiceit  must  be  1-3. 
GATE  voiceif,on/off:  Gates  a 
voice  on  or  off.  Voiceit^  must  be  1-3 
followed  by  0  to  turn  the  gate  bit  off 
or  1  to  turn  it  on. 

The  following  sound  com- 
mands deal  only  with  filters.  Some 
programmers  may  not  be  interested 
in  these,  but  if  you  have  a  serious 
interest  in  64  sound,  you'll  find 
these  handy. 

FCUT  cutoff:  Sets  the  cutoff  fre- 
quency. Cutoff  must  be  in  the  range 
0-2047. 

FRSN  resonance:  Sets  the  filter  res- 
onance. Resonance  must  be  in  the 
range  0-15. 
FMODE    type:    Selects    the    filter 


Best  ot  COMPUTEI  and  Gozette     57 


type.  Type  can  be  H  for  high  band 
filters,  L  for  low  band,  B  for  band- 
pass, or  a  combination  of  these.  For 
example,  FMODE  HBL  for  all  types; 
FMODE  HL  for  high  and  low. 
FILTER  voice  It, on /off:  Turns  the 
filter  on  or  off.  Voice#  must  be  in 
the  range  1-3  followed  by  0  to  turn 
off  the  filter  or  1  to  turn  it  on. 

To  demonstrate  the  sound 
commands,  type  in  this  program. 
By  playing  with  the  parameters, 
you  can  produce  some  most  unusu- 
al effects. 

100  SID 

110  VOL  15 

120  FOR  I  =  1T03 

130  ENVELOPE  L15,240,2000 

140  FILTER  1,1 

150  NEXT 

160  FRSN  15 

170  FMODE  H 

180  WAVE  1,TSR 

190  WAVE  2,SS 

200  WAVE  3,P 

210  GATE  1,1 

220  GATE  2,1 

230  GATE  3,1 

240  FRQ  1,4000 

250  FRQ  2,6000 

260  FORI  =  100TO2000 

270  FCUT  I:FRQ  3,20000-1*10 

280  NEXT 

290  SID 


Joystick  Commands 

The  parameters  for  these  com- 
mands require  parentheses  (  ).  Note 
the  examples  in  the  descriptions 
below. 

STICK  joystick  it:  Reads  the  joy- 
stick direction,  joystick^-  must  be  1 
to  read  port  1,  or  2  for  port  2.  This 
comm.and  returns  a  value  in  the 
renge  0-8,  so  it  must  be  used  like  a 
finction  (X  =  STICK(1),  for  ex- 
ample). Values  1-8  correspond  to 
t*^  e  eight  possible  directions  as 
s'  own  in  the  figure.  The  value  is  0 
i'^^  -he  joystick  is  centered. 


BTN  joystick  it:  Returns  a  value  of 
1  if  the  firebutton  is  pressed,  or  0  if 
it's  not.  Joysticks  must  be  1  or  2.  As 
with  STICK,  this  command  is  a 
function.  A  good  way  to  use  it  is 
witiiin  an  IF-THEN  statement  (IF 
BTN(1)  =  1  THEN  ...). 

Reset  Command 

QUIT:  Disengages  X  BASIC  by  re- 
setting all  vectors  to  normal. 

Space  doesn't  permit  a  lengthy 
discussion  of  how  to  program 
graphics  and  sound  on  the  64.  If 
you've  had  experience  in  these 
areas,  you'll  find  this  utility  an  effi- 
cient tool.  If  you're  a  beginning  pro- 
grammer, you  may  wish  to  consult 
the  Programmer's  Reference  Guide 
for  specific  information  on  pro- 
gramming graphics  and  sound.    O 


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128  Editing  Functions 

For  Commodore  64 


This  powerful  programming  aid 
makes  all  of  the  important  Commo- 
dore 128  screen-editing  functions 
available  on  the  Commodore  64. 


If  you  own  a  Commodore  64,  you 
may  wish  that  you  had  the  extra 
screen-editing  functions  available 
on  the  Commodore  128.  With  just 
two  quick  keystrokes,  you  can  turn 
auto-insert  mode  on  or  off,  clear 
selected  portions  of  the  screen,  set 
and  manipulate  screen  windows, 
move  the  cursor  instantly  to  any 
location,  and  more.  In  the  128, 
these  functions  are  called  ESC  (es- 
cape) functions  because  they  are  ac- 
tivated with  the  ESC  key.  "128 
Editoring"  adds  14  ESC  functions 
to  the  64,  plus  a  NO  SCROLL  key 
to  prevent  screen  scrolling,  and 
three  new  functions  that  aren't 
even  available  on  the  128.  It  also 
allows  all  keys  to  repeat. 

This  program  loads  with  the 
command  LOAD  "128  EDIT- 
ING",8,1.  After  the  program  has 
loaded  into  memory,  type  these 
commands  in  direct  mode  (without 
line  numbers): 

NEW 
SYS  49152 

Don't  forget  to  press  RETURN 
at  the  end  of  each  line.  After  you've 
entered  the  second  command,  the 
program  sets  the  screen  border  to 
the  same  color  as  the  background  as 
a  signal  that  it  is  active. 

New  Escape  Functions 

Since  the  64  lacks  an  ESC  key,  this 
program  uses  the  back-arrow  key 
(*-)  in  its  place.  In  the  remainder  of 
this  article,  the  term  ESC  refers  to 


Jim  Allen 


the  back-arrow  key  at  the  upper  left 
comer  of  the  keyboard.  ESC  func- 
tions require  two  keypresses:  First 
you  press  and  release  the  ESC  key; 
then  you  press  a  second  key.  For 
instance,  to  delete  a  line,  you  press 
ESC  and  then  D. 

If  you  change  your  mind  after 
pressing  ESC  and  decide  not  to  per- 
form an  ESC  function,  simply  press 
a  key  that  has  no  special  ESC  func- 
tion {a  CRSR  key,  for  instance).  If 
you  need  to  type  the  back-arrow 
character  itself,  press  ESC  twice  in 
succession.  A  description  of  the 
ESC  functions  follows. 

Erase/Delete  Functions 

ESC  @  Clears  the  screen  from  the 
current  cursor  position  to 
the  bottom. 

ESC  D  Deletes  the  line  the  cursor 
is  on,  scrolls  the  screen  up 
to  fill  that  line,  and  places 
the  cursor  on  the  left  screen 
margin. 

ESC  P  Erases  from  the  start  of  the 
current  line  up  to  and  in- 
cluding the  current  cursor 
position. 

ESC  Q  Erases  from  the  current 
cursor  position  to  the  end 
of  the  current  line. 

fl  Erases   from   the   line   the 

cursor  is  on,  including  the 
current  line,  to  the  top  of 
the  screen  or  window. 

f3  Deletes  the  character  under 

the  cursor  and  moves  the 
remainder  of  the  line  one 
space  to  the  left. 

Insert  Functions 

ESC  A  Turns  on  autoinsert  mode, 
which  allows  you  to  insert 


printable  characters  with- 
out using  the  INST  key. 
The  cursor  and  other  edit- 
ing keys  work  as  usual.  RE- 
TURN cancels  autoinsert 
mode  {this  is  not  true  on 
the  128). 

ESC  C  Cancels  autoinsert  mode. 
This  works  the  same  as 
ESC  C  on  the  128.  (Note, 
however,  that  some  of 
Commodore's  documenta- 
tion for  the  128  confuses 
ESC  C  with  the  ESC  O 
function.) 

ESC  O  Cancels  insert  and  quote 
modes,  allowing  you  to  use 
cursor  keys  and  other  edit- 
ing keys  after  pressing 
INST  or  typing  a  quotation 
mark. 

ESC  I  Inserts  a  blank  line  at  the 
current  cursor  position, 
scrolling  the  remainder  of 
the  screen  down  and  plac- 
ing the  cursor  on  the  left 
edge  of  the  display. 

Cursor  Movement  Functions 

ESC  J  Moves  the  cursor  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  line. 

ESC  K  Moves  the  cursor  to  the 
end  of  the  text  on  the  line. 

f7  Moves  the  cursor  to  the 

lower  left  comer  of  the 
screen. 

Miscellaneous  Functions 

ESC  T  Sets  the  top  of  the  window. 
Blocks  the  top  portion  of 
the  screen  from  being 
erased  or  scrolled.  The  cur- 
sor position  determines  the 
top  row  of  the  new  win- 
dow. To  reset  the  window 


Best  of  COMPUTEl  ond  Gazette    59 


to  the  full  screen  size,  press 
the  HOME  key  twice. 

ESC  V  Scrolls  the  contents  of  the 
screen  or  window  up  one 
line.  A  new  blank  line  will 
be  scrolled  in  at  the  bot- 
tom, and  the  previous  con- 
tents of  the  top  line  will  be 
lost. 

ESC  W  Scrolls  the  contents  of  the 
screen  or  window  down 
one  line.  A  new  blank  line 
will  be  scrolled  in  at  the 
top,  and  the  previous  con- 
tents of  the  bottom  line  will 
be  lost. 

SHIFT  Enables  the  NO  SCROLL 
feature.  The  NO  SCROLL 
key  on  the  128  lets  you 
pause  printing  to  the  screen 
display  {for  instance,  when 
you  are  listing  a  program). 
To  pause  a  scrolling  dis- 
play, press  SHIFT  or  SHIFT 
LOCK.  When  you  release 
the  key,  printing  resumes. 

ESC  Z  Disables  all  128  Screen 
Editor  functions.  You  can 
reenable  the  ESC  functions 
at    any     time    with     SYS 


49152.  (On  the  128,  ESC  Z 
clears  all  TAB  stops,  a  func- 
tion not  available  in  this 
program.) 

You  should  be  aware  that  these 
functions  affect  logical  lines,  not 
physical  screen  lines.  On  the  Com- 
modore 64,  a  physical  line  is  always 
40  characters  long,  but  a  logical  line 
can  overlap  two  physical  screen 
lines.  Thus,  for  example,  the  ESC  V 
function  may  scroll  the  screen  up- 
ward two  lines  if  the  topmost  logi- 
cal line  in  the  current  window  is 
more  than  40  characters  long. 

The  window  function  (ESC  T) 
does  not  prevent  you  from  moving 
the  cursor  above  the  window 
boundary  with  the  cursor  keys.  If 
you  venture  above  the  boundary, 
strange  results  will  occur.  (If  this 
happens  accidentally,  perform  a 
warm  start  by  pressing  RUN/STOP- 
RESTORE;  then  restart  the  program 
with  SYS  49152.) 

The  delete-line  function  (ESC 
D)  is  intended  for  deleting  a  line 
which  lies  between  two  other  lines. 
If  you  simply  want  to  erase  a  line 
(particularly  a  line  on  the  bottom 


screen  line),  use  the  ESC  Q  fur^ction. 
This  program  works  by  copy- 
ing BASIC  and  the  Kemal  ROM 
into  underlying  RAM  and  modify- 
ing them.  It  also  modifies  two  im- 
portant vectors:  IQPLOP  at  $306 
and  IBASIN  at  $324.  Locations  $02, 
$B6,  and  $334-$338  are  also  used 
for  various  purposes. 


Quick  Reference 

Function 

Keys 

Erase  from  cursor  10  end  ot  screen 

ESC@ 

Delete  current  line 

ESCD 

Erase  from  start  of  line  to  cursor 

ESCP 

Erase  from  cursor  to  end  of  line 

ESCQ 

Erase  from  cursor  to  top  of  window 

tfl 

Delete  to  right  of  cursor 

tf3 

Enable  auto-insert  mode 

ESC  A 

Cancel  auto-insert  mode 

ESCC 

Cancel  insert  and  quote  modes 

ESCO 

Insert  a  line 

ESCI 

Move  cursor  to  star!  of  line 

ESC  J 

Move  cursor  to  end  of  line 

ESCK 

Move  cursor  to  lower  left  comer 

tf7 

Set  top  of  window 

ESCT 

Scroll  screen/window  up 

ESCV 

Scroll  screen/window  down 

ESC  W 

Pause  scrolling 

t  SHIFT 

Disable  Editor 

t  ESC  Z 

Enable  Editor 

t  SYS  49152 

f  differcni  from  Commodorf  138 

@ 


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Archive: 

Two-Drive  Backup 
For  Commodore  64 


Now  you  can  copy  entire  disks  at 
machine  language  speed  with  this 
convenient  backup  program  for  the 
Commodore  64  with  two  1541  disk 
drives.  It  also  works  on  the  new  Com- 
modore 128  in  64  mode. 


Sooner  or  later  it's  bound  to  hap- 
pen. You'll  make  an  unconscious 
error,  or  lightning  may  strike  while 
you're  resaving  a  program,  or  the 
family  dog  will  chew  a  few  disks  for 
dinner — and  an  important  disk  will 
be  utterly  destroyed.  If  you  have  a 
backup  copy,  of  course,  such  acci- 
dents aren't  fatal.  You  take  a  mo- 
ment to  pat  yourself  on  the  back, 
pull  out  the  archive  disk,  and  go 
back  to  work. 

If  you  don't  have  a  backup,  it's 
like  watching  a  gold  ring  slip  off 
your  finger  and  go  clanking  down 
the  drain.  In  the  long  hours  spent 
reconstructing  what  you've  lost, 
you  have  plenty  of  time  to  reflect 
on  the  wisdom  of  archiving  your 
work  on  a  regular  basis. 

Archiving  is  one  of  those  grim 
tasks  that's  easy  to  postpone.  BASIC 
programs  (like  COPY/ ALL  on  your 
1541  Test/Demo  disk)  are  slow,  and 
may  not  copy  machine  language 
(ML)  programs  or  sequential  files. 
Even  good  single-drive  backup  pro- 
grams keep  you  tied  to  the  com- 
puter, tapping  your  fingers  until  it's 
time  for  the  next  disk  swap. 

Fast  And  Convenient 

"Archive"  offers  a  better  way:  It 
links  two  drives  together  to  take  the 
misery  out  of  backing  up  important 


Philip  I.  Nelson 

disks.  To  speed  things  up,  it's  writ- 
ten entirely  in  machine  language 
and  copies  only  those  disk  sectors 
which  actually  contain  data.  But  be- 
cause it  loads  and  runs  just  like  a 
BASIC  program,  it's  easy  for  any- 
one to  use,  even  beginners. 

You  may  find  this  program 
valuable  even  if  you  don't  own  two 
disk  drives.  Put  your  drive  together 
with  a  friend's  and  swap  several 
disks  during  one  session.  Or  take  it 
to  a  user  group  meeting  to  speed  up 
the  duplication  of  public  domain 
library  disks.  Since  1541-format 
disks  work  with  other  Commodore 
computers.  Archive  running  on  a 
Commodore  64  can  also  copy  disks 
that  will  be  used  with  the  Commo- 
dore 128,  VlC-20,  Plus/4,  16,  and 
4040-format  PET/CBM.  (Of 
course,  a  program  written  for  one  of 
these  machines  may  not  work  on 
another.  Also,  Archive  cannot  copy 
Commodore  128  CP/M  disks.) 

Incidentally,  Archive  cannot 
duplicate  commercially  protected 
software.  Protected  disks  invariably 
contain  deliberate  errors  (which 
shut  down  the  program)  or  data 
hidden  in  unused  sectors  (which 
Archive  does  not  copy). 

Getting  Started 

To  use  Archive,  activate  it  like 
a  BASIC  program  by  typing  LOAD 
"ARCHIVE",8  followed  by  RUN. 
(For  this  program,  do  not  use  ,8,1 
after  the  LOAD;  just  use  ,8.)  If 
you're  already  comfortable  using 
two  drives,  you  needn't  read  any 
further,  since  Archive  prompts  you 
at  each  step.  Just  pop  a  disk  in  each 


drive  as  instructed,  press  the  i7  spe- 
cial function  key,  and  relax  while 
Archive  does  its  work.  (If  you've 
never  used  two  drives  before,  see 
"Setting  Up  Your  System"  below.) 

Archive  displays  your  source 
disk's  Block  Availability  Map  (BAM) 
graphically  on  the  screen,  updating 
the  display  as  copying  proceeds. 
Thus,  you  can  tell  at  a  glance  how 
much  of  the  disk  is  used  and  how 
much  has  been  copied.  The  number 
at  the  lower  right  of  the  screen 
shows  the  sector  being  copied;  the 
graphic  display  shows  which  sectors 
have  already  been  copied. 

If  you  want  to  abort  the  copy 
for  any  reason,  press  the  fl  special 
function  key  to  return  to  BASIC. 
(When  you  abort  the  copy  process, 
the  archive  disk  is  incomplete  and 
may  be  garbled.  You  can  reuse  it 
immediately  with  Archive,  but  do 
not  use  it  for  anything  else  without 
reformatting  it  as  explained  below.) 
Once  the  copy  is  done,  press  the  f3 
function  key  to  copy  another  disk, 
or  press  fl  to  quit.  Whenever  you 
exit  Archive,  it  clears  the  screen  and 
reports  the  status  of  each  drive. 

Quicic  Formatting 

Since  Archive  always  makes  a  com- 
plete disk  copy,  it  formats  the  ar- 
chive disk  with  a  NEW  command. 
Formatting  renames  the  disk  and 
erases  everything  it  contained 
before.  You'll  notice  that  the  archive 
disk  is  formatted  in  only  a  few  sec- 
onds rather  than  the  usual  couple  of 
minutes,  and  without  the  usual 
knocking  sound.  To  save  time  and 
minimize  wear  on  the  drive.  Archive 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette    61 


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uses  a  shortened  NEW  command: 
the  equivalent  of  OPEN  15,8,15, 
"NO:filename"  without  a  disk  ID. 

The  abbreviated  NEW  com- 
mand works  only  on  a  disk  that  has 
been  previously  formatted.  To  use  a 
brand  new  disk,  you  must  prepare 
it  first  with  a  full  NEW  command: 
OPEN15,8,15,"N0:/i7enflme,/D".The 
filename  can  be  up  to  16  characters 
long.  The  ID  can  be  any  two  letters 
or  numbers  and  should  be  unique 
for  each  disk.  The  1543  User's  Man- 
ual contains  more  information 
about  formatting  disks. 

Setting  Up  Your  System 

Although  the  Commodore  64  has 
only  one  serial  port  connector,  the 
1541  disk  drive  has  two,  letting  you 
hook  up  more  than  one  drive  at  a 
time.  Since  the  drives  are  chained 
together  in  a  series,  this  arrange- 
ment is  often  called  daisy-chaining. 
Connect  the  first  drive  as  usual, 
then  plug  the  serial  cable  from  the 
second  drive  into  the  extra  serial 
port  connector  on  the  first  drive. 

When  more  than  one  disk 
drive  is  active,  each  drive  must  be 
given  a  different  device  number  so 
the  computer  can  tell  them  apart. 
The  1541  is  factory-set  as  device  8, 
but  it  can  also  have  device  numbers 
9-15.  Archive  uses  device  numbers 
8  and  9,  reading  from  drive  8  and 
copying  to  drive  9.  You  must  always 
put  the  source  disk  (the  original)  in 
the  drive  that's  device  8  and  the  ar- 
chive disk  (the  copy)  in  the  drive 
that's  device  9. 

If  both  of  your  drives  are  de- 
vice 8,  don't  despair.  You  can  easily 
change  one  of  them  to  device  9.  The 
change  is  temporary;  the  drive  re- 
verts to  device  8  wlien  you  turn  off 
the  power.  Here's  the  procedure: 

1.  Turn  on  the  drive  that  you  want 
to  change  to  device  9.  Make  sure  the 
other  drive  is  turned  off.  Now  you 
can  change  the  device  number 
either  by  running  the  DISK  ADDR 
CHANGE  utility  program  on  your 
1541  Test/Demo  disk,  or  by  typing 
in  direct  statements. 

To  use  DISK  ADDR  CHANGE, 
load  the  program  from  the  1541 
Test/Demo  disk  and  enter  RUN. 
Follow  the  program's  instructions, 
then  skip  to  Step  2  below. 

You  can  also  change  the  device 
number  by  entering  the  following 
statements  in  direct  mode  (with  no 


line  numbers).  Press  RETURN  after 
you  type  each  line: 

OPEN  15,8,15 
PRINT#15,"M-W"CHR$(119)CHR$(0) 

CHR«2)CHR$(32  +  9)CHR${M  +  9) 
CLOSE15 

2.  It's  a  good  idea  to  verify  the 
device  number  change.  Put  a  disk 
in  the  drive,  then  type  LOAD"$",9 
and  press  RETURN  to  load  its  di- 
rectory. After  the  blinking  cursor 
returns,  type  LIST  and  press  RE- 
TURN. If  you  see  the  directory,  the 
change  worked  and  you  may  pro- 
ceed to  step  3.  If  you  get  an  error 
{probably  ?DEVICE  NOT  PRE- 
SENT), turn  off  the  drive  and  repeat 
step  1. 

3.  Turn  on  the  other  drive.  This 
drive  will  remain  device  8  (the 
source  drive).  Now  load  and  run 
Archive,  inserting  the  disks  as  ex- 
plained in  the  instructions.  The 
source  (original)  disk  goes  in  device 
8,  and  the  archive  (copy)  disk  goes 
in  device  9.  As  an  additional  pre- 
caution, you  may  want  to  write- 
protect  the  source  disk  by  taping 
over  the  notch  in  the  sleeve. 

In  theory  you  can  daisy-chain 
several  drives  to  a  64,  but  in  fact  the 
1541  doesn't  enjoy  sharing  the  seri- 
al bus.  The  drives  should  always  be 
turned  on  one  at  a  time,  not  simul- 
taneously (as  would  happen  with  a 
power  strip).  Printer  interfaces  that 
draw  power  from  the  64's  cassette 
port  are  notorious  for  causing  disk 
errors,  and  other  peripherals  can 
affect  system  voltage  levels  even  if 
they're  not  turned  on.  Depending 
on  your  system,  you  may  need  to 
unplug  other  peripherals  before 
using  Archive. 

Initialization 

Before  it  starts  copying,  Archive  ini- 
tializes each  disk  to  test  whether 
devices  8  and  9  are  active  and  if  each 
contains  a  formatted  disk.  The  ini- 
tialization command  transfers  infor- 
mation (disk  name,  ID,  etc.)  from 
the  disk  into  the  drive's  memory  to 
prepare  it  for  handling  the  disk. 

If  this  step  fails,  it  means  one  of 
the  drives  is  not  ready  to  go.  Ar- 
chive displays  the  status  of  both 
drives  and  returns  you  to  BASIC.  (If 
you  forget  to  change  one  of  the 
drives  to  device  9,  Archive  can't 
read  its  status;  press  RUN/STOP- 
RESTORE  and  proceed  as  ex- 
plained below).  Enter  these  lines  in 


direct  mode  (without  a  line  num- 
ber) to  retry  the  initialization: 

OPEN  15,8,15,  "IC'rCLOSE  15 
OPEN  1 5,9,1 5,"I0":CLOSE  15 

When  you  enter  each  line,  the 
drive  motor  should  run  and  its  red 
light  should  glow.  After  one  or  two 
seconds  the  red  light  should  go  off 
and  stay  off,  and  you  should  be  able 
to  run  Archive.  If  one  or  both  of  the 
red  lights  blink  continuously,  turn 
off  both  drives  and  repeat  the  setup 
process.  The  drive  makes  a  knock- 
ing sound  if  you  forget  to  insert  a 
disk  or  try  to  use  an  unformatted 
disk  for  the  archive. 

is  Your  Drive  Healthy? 

In  ordinary  use  your  drive  works 
intermittently.  It  may  spend  30  sec- 
onds loading  a  game  for  you,  then 
sit  idle  for  30  minutes  while  you 
play.  Copying  a  full  disk  with  Ar- 
chive is  far  more  demanding  work, 
requiring  several  minutes  of  contin- 
uous running.  If  one  of  your  drives 
is  misaligned,  tends  to  overheat,  or 
has  other  mechanical  problems, 
don't  be  surprised  if  you  experience 
occasional  errors.  When  an  error 
occurs  during  the  copy  process.  Ar- 
chive stops  copying,  reports  the  sta- 
tus of  both  drives,  and  returns  to 
BASIC. 

Such  errors  are  especially  like- 
ly to  crop  up  when  the  source  disk 
is  nearly  full.  For  mechanical  rea- 
sons it's  harder  for  the  drive  to  ac- 
cess the  disk's  outer  area  than  the 
area  near  the  middle.  To  make 
things  easy  on  itself,  the  drive  al- 
ways starts  storing  programs  in  the 
middle  of  the  disk,  leaving  the  out- 
er tracks  empty  until  there's  no 
room  left  elsewhere. 

Archive's  BAM  display  lets 
you  observe  this  storage  scheme. 
When  the  source  disk  contains  only 
a  few  programs,  they'll  all  be  stored 
in  middle  tracks  (near  track  18).  The 
outermost  tracks  (1  and  35)  are 
usually  the  last  to  be  used.  If  your 
drive  consistently  has  trouble  ac- 
cessing outer  tracks,  it's  probably 
misaligned.  The  same  problem  can 
result  if  the  disk  was  formatted  on  a 
badly  misaligned  drive. 

1541  ML  Programming 

To  shorten  and  speed  up  the  pro- 
gram, all  of  Archive's  21  variables 
and  pointers  are  located  in  the  zero 
page  (lowest  256  bytes)  of  memory. 


64    Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Zero  page  machine  language  in- 
structions run  faster  and  use  less 
memory  than  instructions  that  ref- 
erence higher  memory  addresses. 
The  computer  can  find  what  it 
needs  by  checking  only  one  byte, 
rather  than  wading  through  a  two- 
byte  address  in  search  of  the  same 
information.  In  time-critical  pro- 
grams like  Archive,  which  execute 
certain  routines  many  thousands  of 
times  a  minute,  the  microseconds 
you  save  can  add  up  to  a  significant 
difference  in  running  time. 

Many  programmers  have  trou- 
ble learning  to  handle  disk  files  in 
machine  language.  For  those  who 
are  interested,  here's  an  outline  of 
Archive's  main  routines. 

S0852-0863  Initialize  device  8 

$0864-0878  Initialize  device  9 

$0879-0919  Error— report  status 

$0919-0981  Read  BAM  from  source  disk 

$09B2-0A32  Display  BAM  and  disk  name 

$0A33-0A7E  Short  NEW  destination  disk 

$OA7F-0A8F  OPEN  3,8,15  command  channel 

$0A90-0AA0  OPEN  5,9,15  command  channel 

$0AA1-0AB4  OPEN  4,8,4,"#"  buffer  channel 

$0AB5-0AC8  OPEN  6,9,6,"#"  buffer  channel 

$0B94-0C42  Subroutine— copy  a  block 

$OBCE-0CO4  Read  block  from  source  disk 

$0C05-0C42  Write  block  to  archive  disk 

S0C43-0C5C  Subroutine— initialize  disk 

$0C94-0CA4  Subroutine — check  error  chamiel 

SOCCO-OCCB  String— BAM  Block  Read  lUl) 

WCCC-OCDF  String  buffer-short  NEW 

SOCEO  String- "#"  for  buffer  channel 

$0CE1-0CE2  String— "10"  to  initialize 

$OF04-OFOF  String  buffer— Block  Read  (Ul) 

SOFIO-OFIB  String— Block  Write  (U2) 

$0FF3  256-byle  data  buffer  starts  here 

First  the  program  maps  the 
source  disk's  BAM  on  the  screen  to 
record  which  sectors  contain  data. 
Then  it  copies  each  used  sector  in 
turn,  reading  it  from  the  source  disk 
and  writing  it  to  the  archive  disk. 
Note  that  to  read  a  disk  sector,  you 
should  always  use  the  Ul  direct 
access  command  rather  than  B-R 
(Block  Read).  Likewise,  the  U2 
command  must  be  used  in  place  of 
B-W  (Block  Write).  Despite  what 
your  user's  guide  says,  the  B-R  and 
B-W  commands  are  defective  and 
should  never  be  used.  0 


Fontier 
128 


Tapan  Desai 


This  thoughtfully  designed  program 
provides  all  the  features  you  could  ask 
for  in  an  80-column  character  editor 
for  the  Commodore  128.  The  custom 
characters  you  create  with  this  pro- 
gram can  be  used  in  CP/M  and  Com- 
modore 64  mode  as  well  as 
Commodore  128  mode.  An  80-column 
monitor  and  disk  drive  are  required. 


The  80-column  video  display  of  the 
Commodore  128  is  a  significant  im- 
provement over  the  chunky  40- 
column  display  of  its  predecessor, 
the  Commodore  64.  In  fact  the 
128's  80-column  resolution  com- 
pares very  favorably  with  those  of 
machines  costing  much  more.  One 
thing  the  80-column  screen  lacks, 
however,  is  a  character  set  of  its 
own:  It  borrows  the  familiar  40- 
column  character  definitions.  These 
characters  do  not  do  justice  to  the 
superb  resolution  of  the  80-column 
screen,  since  they  were  designed  to 
overcome  the  limitations  of  a  coars- 
er screen  format. 

"Fontier  128"  helps  you  create 
new  80-column  fonts.  It  gives  you 
complete  control  over  character  de- 
sign and  manipulation  and  makes 
extensive  use  of  the  128's  window- 
ing abilities.  The  program  is  entire- 
ly menu-driven:  All  you  need  to  do 
is  choose  options  from  the  onscreen 
menus  and  follow  the  program's 


prompts.  Best  of  all,  the  fonts  you 
create  with  Fontier  128  can  be  in- 
stalled and  used  independently 
with  other  programs — in  CP/M 
and  Commodore  64  mode  as  well 
as  128  mode. 

Before  you  run  the  program,  be 
sure  that  your  80-column  monitor 
is  properly  connected  and  that  the 
80-column  screen  is  the  active  dis- 
play. Also,  check  that  the  40/80 
DISPLAY  key  is  depressed  to  the 
80-column  position  so  that  the  80- 
column  display  will  remain  active 
after  you  press  RUN/STOP-RE- 
STORE. Since  the  program  runs  in 
FAST  mode,  it  does  not  work  at  all 
with  a  40-column  monitor. 

Four  Windows 

When  you  run  Fontier  128,  it 
spends  a  few  seconds  initializing, 
then  it  displays  a  screen  containing 
four  windows.  Here's  an  explana- 
tion of  what  the  windows  contain. 

The  pattern  window  is  located 
at  the  upper  left.  All  pixel-level 
work  is  done  here.  The  window 
displays  an  enlarged  view  of  the 
current  character  (the  one  you  are 
editing),  the  character  set  number 
(0  or  1),  and  the  current  character 
number  (0-255).  The  blinking  ele- 
ment in  the  pattern  window  is  the 
pixel  cursor. 

The  character  set  window  is 
centrally  placed.  It  shows  all  the 
characters  of  a  set  in  their  true  size. 


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The  blinking  character  in  this  win- 
dow marks  the  current  character 
and  is  referred  to  as  the  character 
cursor. 

The  dialog  window  on  the  right 
displays  prompts  and  receives  in- 
put from  you.  When  you  begin  the 
program,  this  window  shows  a 
menu  of  special  keys. 

The  menu  window  is  a  static  por- 
tion of  the  screen  which  displays  the 
various  options  available  to  you. 

One-Key  Commands 

Every  command  in  Fontier  128  is 
invoked  with  a  single  keystroke. 
Here's  a  description  of  what  each 
command  key  does. 


General  Commands 


Key 


Description 


cursor  keys    Move  the  pixel  cursor  in  the 

pattern  window, 
fl  Move  character  cursor  up. 

f3  Move  character  cursor  down. 

15  Move  character  cursor  left. 

f7  Move  character  cursor  right. 

STOP  Restore  original  (40-column} 

character  set  and  stop 

program. 
A  Alternate  between  character 

sets  0  (uppercase/graphics) 

and  1  (lowercase/uppercase). 


Character  Manipulation 
Commands 

Key  Description 

+  Turn  pixel  on  and  move 

cursor. 

—  Turn  pixel  off  and  move 

cursor. 

R  Reverse  character(s)  and 

move  character  cursor. 

I  Invert  character. 

@  Rotate  character  clockwise. 

SHIFT- 

CLR/HOME     Clear  current  character. 

t2  Slide  character  pattern  up, 

M  Slide  character  pattern 

down. 

(6  Slide  character  pattern  left. 

f8  Slide  character  pattern 

right. 

M  Memorize  character(s)  start- 

ing from  the  current 
character. 

C  '^opy  memorized  charac- 

ter(s)  from  the  current  char- 
acter onward.  (An  M 
command  should  always 
precede  this  command.) 


Disk  Commands 

Key     Description 

S  Save  Font  file.  Files  saved  by  this 

option  are  program  files.  They  may 
be  loaded  and  RUN  like  any  BASIC 
program  in  128  mode.  Press  RE- 
TURN to  abort. 

L  Load  Font  file  (don't  try  to  load  a 

file  created  by  any  other  program). 
Press  RETURN  to  abort, 

$         Display  disk  directory. 


What  You  See  Is  What 
You  Get 

When  you  change  a  character  defi- 
nition in  the  pattern  window,  the 
change  appears  immediately  in  the 
character-set  window,  too.  The  ad- 
vantage of  this  system  is  that  you 
can  see  immediately  how  a  charac- 
ter will  look  in  its  normal  size  and 
in  relation  to  other  characters  in  the 
set.  The  menu  and  dialog  windows 
always  use  the  character  set  not 
being  edited  at  that  time.  If  you're 
editing  uppercase/graphics  charac- 
ters (set  0),  all  text  in  the  dialog  and 
menu  windows  will  use  the  lower- 
case/uppercase set  (set  1),  and  vice 
versa.  It's  best  to  edit  only  one  char- 
acter set  at  a  time.  For  example,  if 
you  change  all  the  letters  in  the 
uppercase/graphics  set  to  new 
shapes  and  then  press  A  to  edit  the 
lowercase/uppercase  set,  the  text  in 
the  menu  and  dialog  windows  will 
use  those  new  shapes  and  will  be 
unreadable.  The  solution  is  to  com- 
plete all  your  editing  of  one  charac- 
ter set,  save  your  changes,  and  then 
restore  the  original  character  set 
before  switching  to  edit  the  other 
set. 

Once  you've  created  and  saved 
a  custom  character  set,  how  do  you 
use  it?  With  Fontier,  it's  easy.  When 
you  save  a  character  set,  the  pro- 
gram automatically  adds  a  routine 
to  the  character  set  data  that  will 
install  the  new  character  set  for 
you.  You  don't  need  Fontier  to  load 
the  new  character  definitions;  sim- 
ply load  and  run  the  font  file  as  you 
would  a  BASIC  program.  For  ex- 
ample, if  you  use  Fontier  to  design 
an  italic  character  set  and  save  it 
using  the  name  ITALIC. FNT,  you 
can  enable  your  custom  character 
set  at  any  time  by  typing  RUN 
"ITALIC.FNT".  You  must  not  have 
a  hi-res  graphics  area  allocated 
when  you  run  the  font  file.  For 


example,  Fontier  allocates  the  hi- 
res area  (see  the  GRAPHIC  1  state- 
ment in  line  100)  to  create  an  area 
of  reserved  memory.  You  must  re- 
claim this  space  before  running  a 
font  file.  Use  the  statement 
GRAPHIC  CLR  to  deallocate  any 
existing  graphics  area.  The  built-in 
font  loader  program  will  delete  it- 
self after  the  new  font  is  loaded. 
{You  should  note,  however,  that 
loading  and  running  the  font  file 
will  overwrite  any  existing  BASIC 
program.) 

Once  a  new  character  set  is  in 
place,  it  behaves  exactly  like  the 
original  character  set.  It  is  not  af- 
fected by  RUN/STOP-RESTORE, 
and  will  be  preserved  intact  if  you 
switch  to  CP/M  or  Commodore  64 
mode.  For  instance,  you  can  run  an 
80-column  CP/M  word  processor 
or  telecommunications  program 
with  your  own,  personal  character 
set.  The  same  is  true  of  any  pro- 
gram written  for  a  128  in  Commo- 
dore 64  mode  that  takes  advantage 
of  the  80-column  display.  Of 
course,  any  80-column  program 
that  installs  its  own  custom  charac- 
ter set  will  overwrite  the  Fontier 
128  character  set.  When  using  a 
Fontier  128  font  in  CP/M  mode, 
keep  in  mind  that  CP/M  always 
uses  character  set  1.  You  will  not 
see  any  custom  characters  from  set 
0  in  CP/M  mode  unless  you  invoke 
the  alternate  character  set  escape  se- 
quence {ESC  Gl). 

Fontier  128  opens  exciting  pos- 
sibilities in  font  design.  For  in- 
stance, 80-column  word  processors 
may  now  include  foreign-language 
character  sets,  mathematical  or  sci- 
entific symbols,  italics,  or  subscript 
and  superscript  characters.  Special 
characters  can  be  used  to  form 
background  textures  in  charts  or 
graphs,  and  even  to  build  shapes  in 
arcade-type  games.  O 


68    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Expandable 
Graphics  Dump 

For  The  Commodore  1 526 
And  MPS-802  Printers 


Here's  a  quick  and  easy  way  to  get 
standard-  or  double-sized  high-reso- 
lution printouts.  The  program  works 
with  Print  Shop,  Doodle,  Koala 
Pad,  and  other  hi-res  screens.  Ver- 
sions for  the  64  and  128. 


The  April  1985  issue  of  COM- 
PUTEI's  GAZETTE  contained  a  use- 
ful program  titled  "1526  Hi-Res 
Screen  Dump,"  which  allowed  64 
owners  to  print  out  high-resolution 
screens  on  Commodore's  1526  or 
MP5-802  printers— models  that 
aren't  normally  capable  of  high- 
resolution  graphics  printing.  "Ex- 
pandable Graphics  Dump,"  for  the 
Commodore  1526  and  MPS-802 
printers  only,  goes  a  few  steps  be- 
yond. It  provides  for  column  place- 
ment of  the  normal  screen  dump, 
allowing  it  to  be  printed  out  any- 
where from  column  0-40.  Also,  a 
blowup  option  is  included.  With  a 
single  keypress,  you  can  get  a  print- 
out twice  the  size  (horizontally  and 
vertically)  of  the  normal  one.  Two 
hi-res  screens  could  be  combined 
into  an  SVz"  X  11"  "poster." 

Expandable  Graphics  Dump 
works  with  almost  any  hi-res 
screen.   The   64   version   prints 


Fred  Solmer 


graphics  screens  created  with  the 
Print  Shop  ("Screen  Magic"  pictures 
only),  Doodle,  and  the  Koala  Pad.  In 
fact,  it's  compatible  with  almost 
any  software  designed  to  make  hi- 
res screens. 

A  Simple  Procedure 

Before  getting  started,  be  sure  your 
printer  is  turned  on.  If  you  own  a 
64,  first  load  your  hi-res  screen  as  if 
it  were  a  machine  language  pro- 
gram: LOAD" screenname", 8,1.  You 
probably  won't  be  able  to  see  it,  but 
it  has  been  loaded  into  memory. 
Then  type  NEW.  Next,  load  Ex- 
pandable Graphics  Dump  with  the 
command  LOAD  "EXPANDABLE 
64",8  and  type  RUN.  The  screen 
prompts  make  it  very  easy  to  use.  In 
the  64  version,  you're  first  asked  if 
the  hi-res  screen  was  created  by 
Print  Shop.  After  you  press  the  ap- 
propriate key,  you're  asked  to 
choose  a  normal  size  or  enlarged, 
double-size  printout.  After  making 
this  selection,  you're  asked  for  a 
"space-over"  value,  0-40.  A  com- 
puter screen  is  40  columns  wide, 
but  the  printer  has  80  columns.  The 
space-over  number  controls  the 
number  of  spaces  between  the  left 
margin  and  the  printed  picture.  For 
example,  if  you  wish  your  hi-res 


screen  to  be  printed  at  the  left  mar- 
gin, choose  0.  To  center  it  on  the 
page,  enter  a  value  of  20. 

On  the  128,  you  may  load  Ex- 
pandable Graphics  Dump  first  with 
the  command  LOAD  "EXPAND- 
ABLE 128",8.  Then  use  the  built-in 
graphics  commands  to  create  a  pic- 
ture in  GRAPHIC  1  mode.  When 
you're  satisfied  with  the  result,  load 
Expandable  Graphics  Dump  (if  you 
haven't  already  done  so)  and  run  it. 
In  this  version,  you're  asked  to 
choose  a  "1:1"  (normal  size)  or 
blow-up  printout,  and  then  a  space- 
over  value,  as  described  above.  On 
the  128,  you  can  draw  a  picture 
using  the  built-in  graphics  com- 
mands, exit  to  the  text  screen  (with 
GRAPHIC  0),  and  run  the  program. 
It's  not  necessary  to  save  the  picture 
to  disk  and  load  it  back  into  memory. 

Note  that  the  64  version  of  Ex- 
pandable Graphics  Dump  is  written 
for  hi-res  screens  which  can  be 
saved  as  disk  files.  This  restrichon 
means  it  can't  be  used  to  print  the 
greeting  cards  from  Print  Shop,  al- 
though it  works  well  with  the 
"Screen  Magic"  portion  of  the  pro- 
gram. Also,  Expandable  Graphics 
Dump  handles  monochrome  hi-res 
screens  somewhat  better  than  mul- 
ticolor screens.  ® 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     69 


Hi-Res  Screen  Dump 


Have  you  ever  created  a  hi-res  picture 
or  graph  and  then  tried  to  reproduce  it 
on  your  printer?  This  program  allows 
you  to  do  just  that.  The  prgram  is 
compatible  with  the  Commodore  1525 
orMPS-801  printers  (but  not  the  1526). 


The  Commodore  64  allows  you  to 
create  high-resolution  graphics  im- 
ages on  the  video  screen.  With  the 
VIC  or  64  Super  Expander  cartridge 
or  another  hi-res  program,  it's  easy 
to  produce  detailed  artistic  cre- 
ations. However,  most  of  these  prO' 
grams  don't  provide  a  method  of 
printing  out  these  artistic  endeavors 
once  you've  finished  them.  Unless 
you  leave  your  computer  turned  on 
indefinitely,  your  creation  is  short- 
lived. 

"Hi-Res  Screen  Dump"  works 
with  a  Commodore  1525  or  com- 
patible printer.  (Note  that  the  new 
1526  printer  from  Commodore  is 
not  compatible  with  the  1525,  and 
will  not  work  with  this  program.) 

Bit  Transfer 

Hi-Res  Screen  Dump  is  designed  to 
transfer  the  bit  information  from 
screen  memory  to  the  printer.  Since 
the  1525  printer  can  only  accept 
seven  bits  of  data  at  a  time  in  graph- 
ics mode  (the  high  bit  must  always 
be  set),  the  eight-bit  bytes  in  screen 
memory  must  be  split  into  odd 
units  before  they  are  sent  to  the 
printer.  Transferring  the  infor- 
mation from  screen  to  printer  is  fur- 
ther complicated  since  the  location 
of  screen  memory  bytes  must  also 


Gregg  Peele 


be  calculated,  and  hi-res  screens  for 
the  64  can  be  moved  to  several 
different  areas  of  memory. 

This  program  reads  data  from 
the  screen  one  bit  at  a  time  starting 
from  the  lower  leftmost  comer  of 
the  screen.  After  seven  bits,  the 
program  moves  to  the  leftmost  bit 
of  the  next  row  up  and  prints  seven 
more  bits,  continuing  up  the  screen. 
After  the  leftmost  seven-bit  column 
has  been  printed,  the  program 
starts  at  the  eighth  bit  over  from  the 
bottom  left  comer  and  continues 
cycling  from  bottom  to  top  until  the 
entire  screen  has  been  read.  Each 
seven  bits  are  combined  to  form  the 
byte  to  be  sent  out  to  the  printer. 
Since  the  program  reads  from  the 
left  bottom  side  of  the  screen  to  the 
right  top  side,  the  printout  is  a  90- 
degree-tumed  reproduction  of  the 
screen  image. 

Hi-Res  Screen  Dump  is  written 
in  machine  language.  A  BASIC 
loader  (the  first  several  lines  of  the 
program)  puts  the  machine  lan- 
guage (in  the  form  of  DATA  state- 
ments) into  the  appropriate  location 
in  memory.  The  BASIC  loader  also 
prompts  you  for  the  width  of  the 
printout.  To  operate  the  program 
correctly,  you  must  load  and  run  Hi- 
Res  Screen  Dump  before  you  load  the 
program  which  creates  the  hi-res 
image. 

Selecting  A  Width  And 
Making  A  Printout 

You  can  select  either  a  single-width 
or  double-width  printout  by  POKE- 
ing  a  1  (for  single  width)  or  a  2  (for 


double  width)  into  location  2  (i.e., 
POKE  2,1  or  POKE  2,2).  This  loca- 
tion is  changed  by  your  selection  of 
width  when  you  are  prompted  in 
the  BASIC  program,  but  can  be 
changed  at  any  time.  A  SYS  to  loca- 
tion 52224  will  initiate  a  printout  of 
the  hi-res  screen.  You  can  issue  this 
SYS  in  direct  mode  if  you  have  a 
design  on  the  screen,  or  add  it  to  a 
hi-res  drawing  program  if  you 
make  sure  the  machine  language  is 
loaded  into  memory  before  the  SYS 
is  encountered.  Also,  be  sure  that 
the  printer  is  turned  on  before  giv- 
ing the  SYS. 

The  machine  language  for  the 
program  resides  at  the  top  of  the 
64's  free  block  of  RAM  above  loca- 
tion 49152  ($C000).  This  makes  it 
compatible  with  the  Super  Expander 
64,  but  also  means  that  it  cannot  be 
used  with  the  64  DOS  wedge  pro- 
gram, as  both  occupy  the  same  area 
of  memory.  The  program  is  de- 
signed to  print  the  hi-res  screen  that 
is  currently  visible.  If  you  want  a 
screen  dump  when  you  are  not  in 
hi-res  mode,  POKE  location  900 
with  the  high  byte  of  the  starting 
address  of  the  hi-res  screen  and 
SYS  to  location  52224 -h32.  This  al- 
ternate SYS  bypasses  the  routine 
which  determines  the  location  of 
the  hi-res  screen.  For  example,  if 
your  hi-res  screen  starts  at  location 
57344  ($E000)— as  in  "Screen-80"— 
you  would  initiate  the  screen  dump 
with: 
POKE  900,(57344/256):  SYS  52256 


70    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


Sprite  Magic: 

An  All-Machine-Language 

Sprite  Editor 


Sprites  make  animation  on  the  64  fun 
and  easy  to  program.  But  actually 
drawing  and  creating  sprites  with 
graph  paper  can  be  tedious.  "Sprite 
Magic"  simplifies  their  creation,  and 
lets  you  concentrate  on  the  artistic 
aspects  of  sprite  design. 


Most  of  the  what  you've  read  about 
sprites  covers  how  to  program  them: 
setting  them  up,  protecting  memory, 
moving  and  animating  them,  and 
using  them  in  games.  But  sprite  de- 
sign is  usually  left  up  to  you. 

A  sprite  is  defined  by  63  binary 
numbers.  The  one  bits  (on)  repre- 
sent solid  pixels.  Zeros  (off)  repre- 
sent blank  areas  in  which  the  screen 
background  is  visible.  Normally, 
you  sketch  a  sprite  on  a  grid  24 
squares  across  and  21  squares  high. 
This  is  three  bytes  per  row  (8  bits*3 
bytes  =  24  bits)  and  21  rows  of 
bytes  (3*21=63  bytes).  But  after 
you've  drawn  the  sprite,  you  have 
to  convert  the  squares  into  binary, 
and  then  into  decimal  so  that  you 
can  put  the  numbers  in  DATA 
statements. 

There  are  utility  programs  that 
will  do  the  conversion  for  you,  even 
editors  that  let  you  clear  and  set 
squares  with  a  joystick.  Since 
you're  using  a  computer,  other 
functions  can  be  supported  to  let 
you  clear,  invert,  reflect,  reverse, 
shift,  and  test  out  your  sprite.  The 
more  work  the  computer  does,  the 
less  you  have  to  think  in  terms  of 
binary  numbers. 


Chorles  Bronnon 

Sprite  Magic  offers  the  best 
features  of  most  sprite  editors,  in- 
cluding true  multicolor  mode,  and 
pulls  it  off  with  the  speed  and  pow- 
er of  an  all-machine  language  pro- 
gram. Sprite  Magic's  style  (and 
even  some  of  the  coding)  is  similar 
to  "Ultrafont  + ."  Many  of  the  com- 
mands are  the  same,  so  you  can  get 
up  to  speed  quickly.  If  you've 
learned  how  to  use  Ultrafont  -I-,  it 
won't  take  much  to  become  com- 
fortable with  Sprite  Magic. 

Here's  how  you  get  it  up  and 
running: 

LOAD  "SPRITE  MAGIC,8,1 

Be  sure  to  add  the  ,1  to  the  end. 
After  the  computer  comes  back 
with  the  READY  message,  type 
NEW  and  press  RETURN.  This  re- 
sets some  important  memory  loca- 
tions, but  leaves  Sprite  Magic  in  its 
protected  cubbyhole  at  SCOOO. 

Doodle 

Activate  Sprite  Magic  with  SYS 
49152.  Instantly,  the  main  screen 
should  appear,  with  a  large  24  X  21 
grid.  The  grid  is  a  blow-up  of  the 
sprite  you  are  editing.  The  actual 
sprite  will  be  seen  to  the  right  of  the 
grid.  The  flashing  square  within  the 
large  grid  is  your  cursor.  Move  the 
cursor  with  either  the  cursor  keys  or 
with  a  joystick  plugged  into  port  2. 
To  light  up  a  blank  spot  (in  other 
words,  to  turn  that  pixel  on),  press 
either  the  space  bar  or  the  joystick 
fire  button.  If  the  square  is  already 
lit,  it  will  turn  dark.  This  signifies 
that  the  pixel  has  been  turned  off. 
The  button  or  space  bar  thus  tog- 
gles points  on  or  off.  You  can  draw 


your  sprite  quite  easily  in  this  man- 
ner. One  fine  point:  With  the  joy- 
stick, you  can  hold  down  the  fire 
button  and  move  the  cursor.  If  the 
first  point  you  change  was  set,  then 
the  fire  button  will  continue  to  set 
points  as  you  move  the  joystick, 
regardless  of  the  other  points'  origi- 
nal state.  If  the  first  point  you 
change  was  empty,  then  you  can 
hold  down  the  fire  button  and 
move  about,  clearing  anything  the 
cursor  passes  over.  Notice  how  any 
changes  are  immediately  visible  in 
the  actual  sprite. 

If  you've  just  entered  Sprite 
Magic,  the  grid  is  probably  full  of 
garbage  pixels.  To  clear  out  the  grid 
for  a  new  picture,  press  SHIFT- 
CLR/HOME.  You  now  have  an 
empty  area  (a  fresh  canvas,  so  to 
speak)  to  draw  upon.  You  can  press 
CLR/HOME  without  holding 
down  SHIFT  to  home  the  cursor  to 
the  upper-left  comer  of  the  grid. 

Does  the  cursor  move  too  slow 
or  too  fast?  To  change  the  velocity 
(speed)  of  the  cursor,  press  V.  An- 
swer the  prompt  with  a  number  key 
from  0  (slow)  to  9  (very  fast). 

Shift,  Expansion, 
And  Symmetry 

Sometimes  when  you're  drawing, 
it's  necessary  to  reposition  the 
shape  within  the  grid.  The  first  two 
function  keys  let  you  shift  the  sprite 
shape  around  within  the  grid.  If 
you  shift  something  out  of  the  grid, 
it  wraps  around  to  the  opposite 
side.  The  f  1  key  shifts  right,  f3  shifts 
down.  Use  the  SHIFT  key  along 
with  the  function  key  to  move  in 
the  opposite  direction:  f2  moves  the 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     71 


Lyco  Computer 

Marketing  &  Consultants 


*  Special  Purchase 


ii>i<  f  on  It  I  •  I  «« 

•  100  cps  draft 

•  25  NLQ 

•  EZ  Front  Panel 
Selection 

•  Auto  Single 
Sheet  Feed 

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Attention  Educational 
I  Institutions: 

If  you  are  not  currently  using  our 

I  educational  service  program,  please 

call  our  representatives  for  details. 


sprite  shape  left,  f3  up. 

After  you've  drawn  some- 
thing, press  F.  Instantly,  the  sprite 
is  flipped  upside-down.  Press  it 
again  to  flip  it  back  over.  Remem- 
ber F  as  the  command  for  Flip.  Now 
try  M,  for  Mirror.  The  shape  you've 
drawn  is  mirrored  left  to  right.  Of 
course,  if  you've  drawn  something 
symmetrical,  you  may  not  see  any 
change. 

Now  try  CTRL-R  or  CTRL-9. 
The  sprite  will  become  reversed. 
Every  square  that  was  on  is  now 
turned  off,  and  vice  versa. 

A  sprite  can  also  be  expanded 
or  contracted  either  horizontally  or 
vertically,  or  both  horizontally  and 
vertically.  The  X  and  Y  keys  on  the 
keyboard  let  you  do  this.  Press  X  to 
switch  from  wide  to  narrow,  or  vice 
versa.  Press  Y  to  switch  from  tall  to 
short,  or  vice  versa.  Regardless  of 
your  choices,  the  main  grid  will  not 
change  size  or  proportion. 

An  unusual  command  is  Sym- 
metry. I  added  this  command  after 
some  suggestions  that  many  shapes 
are  symmetrical  from  left  to  right, 
as  if  a  mirror  were  put  in  the  middle 
of  the  grid.  To  enter  the  Symmetry 
mode,  press  the  back-arrow  (•-)  key 
(found  in  the  upper-left  comer  of 
the  keyboard).  Now,  every  square 
drawn  on  one  side  will  be  instantly 
mirrored  to  the  left.  Blank  squares 
are  not  copied  over,  though,  so  you 
cannot  erase  in  this  mode.  This 
command  is  not  only  quite  useful, 
but  is  also  a  great  deal  of  fun  to  play 
with.  To  return  to  normal  editing, 
press  the  back-arrow  key  again. 

Notice  the  number  in  the  up- 
per-right comer  of  the  screen.  This 
is  the  sprite  page  number,  which 
can  range  from  0  to  255.  You  start 
out  at  the  top  of  the  sprite  memory. 
The  +  and  —  keys  are  used  to  go 
forward  or  backward  through  sprite 
shapes.  Press  the  minus  key  and 
see  how  you  now  have  a  new  shape 
in  the  grid. 

There  is  a  limit  to  how  far  back 
you  can  go.  If  you  have  no  BASIC 
program  in  memory,  you  can  step 
back  to  sprite  page  number  32. 
However,  character  information  re- 
sides in  sprite  pages  below  128. 
You  can  still  clear  the  page  and 
draw  a  sprite  shape  on  pages  below 
128,  but  it  won't  really  register.  To 
be  safe,  use  only  the  sprite  pages 
from  128  on  up.  If  you  have  a  pro- 


Quick  Reference  Chart 

B:  Cycle  through  background  colors 

F:  Flip  sprite  upside-down 

J:  Move  sprite  with  joystick.  Press  button  when  done. 

L:  Load  sprite  from  tape  or  disk 

M:  Mirror  sprite  from  left  to  right 

S:  Save  sprite(s)  to  tape  or  disk 

V:  Set  cursor  velocity 

X:  Toggle  X  expansion  on/off 

Y:  Toggle  Y  expansion  on/off 

CTRL-D:  Create  DATA  statements 
CTRL-R  or  CTRL-9;  Reverse  sprite 
CTRL-X:  Exit  to  BASIC 

+  :  Next  sprite  page 

— :  Previous  sprite  page 

CLR/HOME:  Home  sprite  editing  cursor 

SHIFT-CLR/HOME:  Erase  grid 

Space  bar  or  fire  button:  Set/clear  points 

CRSR  keys  or  joystick  in  port  2:  Moves  cursor 

Back  arrow:  Symmetry  mode 

Keys  1-4:  Select  drawing  color  for  multicolor  mode 

SHIFT  1-4:  Change  a  drawing  color 

fl:  Shift  right 

f2:  Shift  left 

f3:  Shift  down 

f4:  Shift  up 

f5:  Multicolor  mode 

f6:  Normal  mode 

f7:  Store  sprite  to  buffer 

f8:  Recall  sprite  from  buffer 


gram  in  memory.  Sprite  Magic  will 
not  let  you  step  back  past  its  end. 
This  protects  your  program  from 
being  accidentally  overwritten  by  a 
sprite  shape.  If  you  want  maximum 
space  available  for  sprite  shapes,  be 
sure  to  NEW  out  any  BASIC  pro- 
gram before  you  SYS  49152.  You'll 
sometimes  want  to  keep  a  program 
in  memory,  however.  We'll  show 
you  why  a  bit  later. 

Programming  note:  The  sprite 
page  number,  when  multiplied  by 
64,  gives  you  the  starting  memory 
location  for  the  63  numbers  repre- 
senting the  sprite. 

Put  It  In  Ttie  Buffer 

You  might  use  Flip  to  design  two 
views  of  a  shape,  such  as  a  space- 
ship pointing  in  two  directions. 
Draw  one  freehand,  then  do  the 
other  with  nip.  Mirror  can  be  used 
to  design  separate  left  and  right 
views  as  well.  But  what  you  first 
need  is  a  way  to  copy  the  original 
shape  to  another  sprite  area.  One 
way  to  do  this  is  to  copy  the  sprite 
shape  to  an  area  of  memory  (a  buff- 
er). You  can  use  +  or  —  to  step  to 
another  sprite  page,  then  copy  the 
buffer  to  the  sprite.  This,  you  may 
remember,  is  the  way  you  copy 
characters  with  Ultrafont   +.  The 


same  keys  are  used  in  Sprite  Magic. 
Press  i7  to  copy  the  sprite  to  the 
buffer.  The  grid  flashes  to  affirm 
this.  Then  go  to  the  sprite  page 
where  you  want  to  put  the  copy 
and  press  f8  (SHlFT-f7).  The  shape 
in  the  buffer  replaces  any  shape 
already  in  the  sprite  grid.  You  can 
also  use  the  buffer  as  a  fail-safe 
device.  Before  modifying  an  exist- 
ing sprite,  press  f7  to  save  it  in  the 
buffer.  Then,  if  you  mangle  the 
sprite,  or  accidentally  erase  it,  you 
can  recall  the  previous  shape  from 
the  buffer. 

Computer  Disney? 

The  buffer  is  also  useful  for  anima- 
tion. Since  you  can  change  sprite 
pages  so  easily,  you  can  also  use 
Sprite  Magic  as  an  animation  de- 
sign tool.  Cartoons  make  only  mi- 
nor changes  between  frames.  Too 
much  change  makes  the  animation 
jerky.  So  put  the  first  frame  into  the 
buffer,  copy  it  to  the  next  area,  then 
make  a  change.  Put  the  new  image 
into  the  buffer,  copy  it  again  to  a 
new  area,  then  make  another  small 
change.  Continue  in  this  fashion  as 
you  build  up  a  whole  series  of 
frames.  Put  different  but  similar 
shapes  on  adjacent  pages,  then 
hold  down  plus  or  minus  to  step 


74    Best  of  COMPUTBl  and  Gazette 


through  the  shapes.  As  with  car- 
toon animation,  you  will  get  the 
illusion  of  motion.  Use  a  cursor  ve- 
locity of  9  for  maximum  speed.  So 
even  if  you  don't  care  to  program 
sprites.  Sprite  Magic  is  a  fun  tool  for 
making  moving  cartoons. 

A  Bit  Of  Color 

The  normal  drawing  mode  lets  you 
set  or  clear  points,  but  in  only  one 
color.  If  you're  willing  to  give  up 
half  as  many  horizontal  points,  you 
can  have  four  colors  to  work  with. 
Multicolor  mode  lets  any  square  be 
one  of  four  colors,  but  gives  you 
only  12  pixels  across  instead  of  24. 
This  is  because  two  dots  are 
grouped  together  to  give  four  com- 
binations. The  colors  come  from 
four  memory  locations: 

Pattern    Color  location 


00 


01 


10 


53281        Background  color 

register 
53285        Sprite  multicolor 

register  0 
53287-      Sprite  color  registers 
53294 
11        53286       Sprite  multicolor 

register  1 

There  are  two  multicolor  sprite 
registers,  which  are  shared  among 
all  sprites  (in  programming,  but  not 
in  Sprite  Magic,  you  can  have  eight 
sprites  on  the  screen  at  the  same 
time).  The  bit  pattern  marked  10  is 
unique  to  each  sprite,  and  comes 
from  that  sprite's  own  color  regis- 
ter. Pattern  00  is  blank,  and  what- 
ever is  underneath  the  sprite  shape 
will  show  through. 

The  reason  for  this  sojourn  into 
bits  and  addresses  is  that  only  the 
10  bit  pattern  has  a  unique  color  for 
that  sprite.  If  you're  designing  sev- 
eral sprites  for  a  game,  remember 
that  anything  drawn  in  that  color 
can  be  changed  individually  for 
each  sprite.  Squares  drawn  with  bit 
pattern  01  or  11  will  be  colored 
from  two  locations  shared  by  all 
sprites. 

Many  sprite  editors  let  you  see 
how  the  sprite  would  look  in  multi- 
color, but  you  still  have  to  pair  up 
the  pixels  yourself,  and  keep  track 
of  binary  bit  pairs.  No  fun!  Instead, 
Sprite  Magic  offers  a  multicolor 
mode.  When  you  press  f5,  the 
screen  instantly  changes.  Each 
square  in  the  grid  is  now  rectangu- 
lar, two  squares  wide.  The  cursor 
has  also  been  enlarged,  and  can  be 


moved  about  as  before  in  the  new 
grid.  But  the  way  you  set  and  clear 
points  has  been  changed,  since  you 
are  now  working  with  four  colors. 

Multicolor  Palette 

The  fire  button  or  the  space  bar 
always  sets  a  point,  but  you  have  to 
tell  Sprite  Magic  which  color  you 
are  currently  drawing  in.  The  num- 
ber keys  1  to  4  select  the  drawing 
color.  The  number  you  press  is  one 
number  higher  than  the  binary  val- 
ue of  the  bit  pairs  in  the  table 
above.  The  1  key,  for  instance, 
chooses  the  00  bit  pair,  which  rep- 
resents the  background  color.  In 
practice,  you  are  choosing  from  a 
palette  of  four  colors.  The  1  key  can 
be  used  when  you  want  to  erase, 
although  the  fire  button  can  still  be 
used  to  toggle  points  on  and  off. 

When  you  press  a  number  key 
from  1  to  4,  the  border  color 
changes  to  remind  you  which  color 
you're  drawing  with.  If  you  want  to 
change  one  of  the  four  colors,  hold 
down  SHIFT  while  you  type  the 
number.  The  prompt  ENTER 
COLOR  KEY  appears.  Now  you 
have  to  enter  another  key  combina- 
tion. Press  CTRL  and  one  of  the 
number  keys  from  1  to  8,  or  hold 
down  the  Commodore  key  and  one 
of  the  number  keys  from  1  to  8. 
These  are  the  same  key  combina- 
tions you  use  to  change  the  text 
color  in  BASIC.  You  can  also 
change  the  screen  background 
color  by  pressing  the  letter  B  on  the 
keyboard  until  the  color  you  want 
appears. 

Some  Sprite  Magic  commands 
act  strangely  in  multicolor  mode. 
For  example,  a  shift  left  or  shift 
right  (done  with  the  fl  and  f2  keys 
respectively)  moves  the  sprite  over 
by  only  one  bit,  which  changes  the 
color  assignments.  In  general,  you 
must  press  f  1  or  f2  twice  to  preserve 
the  same  colors.  Pressing  the  M  key 
(for  Mirror)  reverses  the  bit  pairs,  so 
that  every  01  becomes  a  10.  The 
effect  is  that  colors  2  and  3  are 
exchanged.  The  R  key  (Reverse) 
also  inverts  the  bits,  so  that  01  be- 
comes 10,  10  becomes  01,  00  be- 
comes 11,  and  11  becomes  00. 
Colors  2  and  3  are  switched,  as  well 
as  colors  1  and  4. 

If  you  want  to  go  back  to  nor- 
mal (non-multicolor)  mode,  press 
the  f6  key  (SHIFT-f5).  There's  noth- 


ing to  prevent  you  from  designing 
both  normal  and  multicolor  sprites 
on  different  pages. 

If  you  changed  colors  in  the 
multicolor  mode,  some  of  the  colors 
in  the  normal  mode  may  have  been 
changed.  You  can  alter  these  colors 
as  in  multicolor  mode.  Press  SHIFT- 
1  to  change  the  color  of  the  empty 
pbtels,  and  SHIFT-2  to  change  the 
color  of  the  on  pixels.  (You'll  be 
prompted  to  press  a  color  number 
key  after  each  SHIFT-1  or  SHIFT-2 
combination.  Remember  to  press 
either  CTRL  or  Commodore  simul- 
taneously with  the  color  key.) 

Mobilizing  Your  Sprite 

If  you  want  to  try  out  your  sprite  in 
action,  press  J  (for  Joystick).  You 
can  now  move  the  actual  sprite 
around  with  the  joystick.  The  speed 
of  movement  depends  on  the  cur- 
rent cursor  velocity.  When  you've 
finished  putting  your  sprite 
through  its  paces,  press  the  fire  but- 
ton to  return  to  Sprite  Magic.  Also, 
if  you  want  to  test  the  animation 
while  you  are  moving  about,  hold 
down  the  SHIFT  key  to  step  for- 
ward through  the  pages  of  your 
defined  sprites,  or  the  Commodore 
key  to  step  backward.  You  can  lock 
the  SHIFT  key  to  keep  the  anima- 
tion happening  while  you  move 
around. 

Saving  Your  Sprites 

After  all  your  work,  you  surely 
want  to  save  your  creations  on  tape 
or  disk  for  future  use.  You  can  save 
an  individual  shape,  or  all  the 
sprites.  Press  S  (for  Save),  then 
either  D  (Disk)  or  T  (Tape).  Next, 
enter  the  filename.  You'll  be  asked 
if  you  want  to  "Save  all  from  here?" 
If  you  press  N,  for  No,  then  only 
the  current  sprite  you  are  working 
on  is  saved.  If  you  press  Y  for  Yes, 
then  every  sprite  from  the  current 
sprite  to  sprite  255  will  be  saved. 
Thus,  if  you  want  to  save  a  range  of 
sprites,  be  sure  to  use  the  minus  key 
to  step  back  to  the  first  sprite  you 
want  saved. 

To  recall  your  sprites,  press  L. 
The  Load  command  loads  every- 
thing that  was  saved.  If  you're  load- 
ing in  more  than  one  sprite,  be  sure 
you  step  backward  far  enough  with 
the  minus  key  so  that  all  the  sprites 
will  fit  between  the  current  sprite 
and  sprite  255.  The  sprites  load 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     75 


starting  at  the  current  sprite  page 
number.  After  you  press  L,  enter  T 
or  D  for  Tape  or  Disk. 

Making  Sprite  DATA 

If  you're  a  programmer,  you're 
probably  more  interested  in  DATA 
statements.  That  way,  you  can  use 
BASIC  to  READ  and  POKE  the 
numbers  into  memory.  If  you  have 
some  kind  of'DATA  maker/'you 
can  run  it  on  the  memory  used  by 
the  sprite  in  Sprite  Magic  (again, 
the  memory  location  is  the  sprite 
number  times  64).  But  Sprite  Magic 
has  a  special  DATA  maker  of  its 
own.  It's  similar  to  the  Create 
DATA  option  in  Ultrafont  +,  but 
It's  been  enhanced. 

Press  CTRL-D  to  create  a  series 
of  DATA  statements  from  the  cur- 
rent sprite  In  memory.  Just  tap  the 
key,  or  you'll  get  hundreds  of 
DATA  statements  as  the  key  re- 
peats. Sprite  Magic  will  create  eight 
DATA  statements,  with  eight  bytes 
per  line.  The  last  byte  is  not  strictly 
used.  Sprite  shapes  are  made  from 
63  bytes,  but  the  sprite  areas  are 
padded  out  so  they  will  conve- 
niently fall  in  64-byte  ranges.  To 
create  DATA  statements  for  anoth- 
er sprite,  use  the  +  or  —  key  to 
move  to  the  correct  sprite  page, 
then  press  CTRL-D  again. 

If  you  have  a  program  already 
in  memory,  the  DATA  statements 
are  appended  to  the  end  of  the  pro- 
gram, starting  with  the  next  avail- 
able line  number.  To  add  DATA 
statements  to  an  existing  program, 
then,  first  load  Sprite  Magic.  Type 
NEW.  Load  your  BASIC  program, 
and  SYS  49152  to  enter  Sprite  Mag- 
ic. You  can  then  load  in  sprite 
shapes  and  use  CTRL'D  to  add 
those  DATA  statements  to  the  end 
of  the  BASIC  program  in  memory. 

You  can  check  to  see  that  these 
DATA  statements  were  added  by 
exiting  Sprite  Magic  (press  CTRL-X) 
and  typing  LIST.  Your  program 
should  have  eight  new  DATA  lines 
for  each  sprite  pattern.  If  there  was 
no  program  in  memory,  the  DATA 
statements  form  a  program  all  their 
own,  starting  with  line  1.  If  you 
want,  you  can  save  just  the  DATA 
statements  to  tape  or  disk,  using  the 
normal  SAVE  command. 

To  exit  Sprite  Magic  and  return 
to  BASIC,  press  CTRL-X.  You  can 
5lso  use  RUN/STOP-RESTORE.  ® 


Fast  Hi-Res 
Screen  Dump 


Pobert  F.  Mills 


This  machine  language  program 
prints  out  screen  dumps  at  high  speed 
when  used  with  the  Epson,  Gemini, 
and  compatible  printers.  For  the 
Commodore  128  and  64. 


The  "Hi-Res  Dump"  program  In 
the  July  1986  GAZETTE  prints  out 
excellent  copies  of  whatever  is  on 
the  hl-res  (high -resolution)  screen. 
Unfortunately,  the  program  is  very 
slow  when  used  with  a  non-Com- 
modore printer  like  my  Gemini  lOX 
with  Its  Cardco  +G  interface.  The 
interface  emulates  the  Commodore 
graphics  commands  well — but  the 
process  is  slow  and  it  gives  the 
printhead  quite  a  workout.  So,  I 
dug  out  my  printer  manual  to  learn 
more  about  Its  built-in  graphics  ca- 
pabilities. "Fast  Hi-Res  Dump"  is 
the  result. 

Although  I  wrote  this  program 
for  my  Gemini  printer,  it  also  works 
with  most  other  Star  Micronics 
models,  and  with  most  Epson  print- 
ers as  well.  In  fact,  the  program  will 
work  with  most  any  printer  that 
uses  the  ESC  K  nl  n2  sequence  for 
printing  graphics.  The  program  will 
not  work  with  any  Commodore  print- 
er. Refer  to  the  owner's  manual  that 
came  with  your  printer  for  details  of 
Its  built-in  graphics  capabilities.  Re- 
gardless of  the  printer  used,  you 
must  also  have  an  Interface  which 
allows  a  transparent  mode  of  oper- 


ation. Transparent  mode  makes  the 
interface  pass  all  characters  to  the 
printer  without  modification.  This 
gives  you  control  over  the  printer's 
special  built-in  functions.  This  pro- 
gram uses  the  Cardco  convention 
whereby  a  secondary  address  of  4 
in  the  OPEN  statement  specifies 
transparent  mode.  For  other  inter- 
faces, it  may  be  necessary  to  set  a 
switch  on  the  interface  to  select 
transparent  mode.  This  program 
does  not  work  with  most  third- 
party  printers  that  have  built-in 
Commodore  interfaces,  such  as  the 
Star  SG-IOC  or  Gemini  II. 

Printing  A  Screen 

Fast  Hi-Res  Dump  is  relocatable,  so 
you  can  put  this  program  nearly 
anywhere  in  RAM.  The  program 
will  place  the  machine  language  at 
any  address  you  request.  On  the 
128,  either  of  the  RS-232  buffers 
(starting  addresses  3072  or  3328) 
provide  excellent  areas  if  you  won't 
be  using  an  RS-232  device.  The  free 
memory  starting  at  4864  can  also  be 
used.  For  the  Commodore  64,  the 
free  memory  beginning  at  address 
49152  is  a  good  place  to  put  this 
routine  If  your  screen  or  another 
program  isn't  located  there.  The 
program  is  221  bytes  long,  so  it 
won't  fit  in  the  cassette  tape  buffer. 
When  you  run  the  program, 
you'll  be  asked  to  specify  a  starting 
address  for  the  dump  routine.  The 


76    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


D  64 $119.95 


Get  your  workspace  back  again. 

Consolidate  your  64,  64C  or  128  system 
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switch.  (Optional  on  64  and  64C). 

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Short  Serial  Cable  $9.95  —  for  chaining  drives 
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drives,  printers,  and  all  interfaces. 
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loader  then  POKEs  the  values  into 
that  area  and  checks  for  errors.  Any- 
time you  want  to  dump  the  image 
on  the  hi-res  screen  to  the  printer, 
just  SYS  to  the  address  you  specified 
for  the  dump  routine.  For  example, 
if  you  placed  the  Fast  Hi-Res  Dump 
routine  at  49152,  use  SYS  49152  to 
dump  your  graphics  screen.  This 
can  be  done  either  in  direct  mode  or 
within  a  program.  The  dump  takes 
just  over  a  minute.  On  the  128,  you 
can  BSAVE  (binary  save)  the  routine 
and  then  BLOAD  it  wherever  you 
wish  without  having  to  use  the  load- 
er program  again.  For  example,  if 
you  told  the  loader  to  place  the  rou- 
tine at  address  3072  ($0C00),  the 
RS-232  input  buffer,  you  could  save 
a  copy  of  the  routine  with: 

BSAVE  "FASTDUMP",P3072  TO  P3293 

Then  when  you  want  to  use  the 
routine,  just  BLOAD  "FASTDUMP" 
and  SYS  3072.  Or,  if  you  have  an- 
other ML  program  residing  at  3072, 
you  can  use  BLOAD  "FAST- 
DUMP",?  address  and  SYS  address. 
where  address  is  some  other  free  ML 
area.  For  the  128,  make  sure  that  the 
routine  is  loaded  into  a  bank  config- 
uration where  Kemal  ROM  is  visible 
(bank  15,  for  example). 

Behind  The  Dump 

Fast  Hi-Res  Dump  is  written  entire- 
ly in  machine  language.  First,  the 
program  opens  a  channel  for  talk- 
ing to  the  printer  (equivalent  to 
OPEN  4,4,4  in  BASIC).  The  sec- 
ondary address  of  4  puts  the  Cardco 
-l-G  interface  in  transparent  mode 
with  line  feeds.  If  you  don't  have  a 
Cardco  interface,  you  may  need  to 
change  the  DATA  in  line  70.  Re- 
place the  4  in  that  line  with  the 
secondary  address  value  that  puts 
your  interface  into  transparent 
mode.  (You  can  ignore  this  change 
if  your  printer  interface  instead  re- 
quires a  switch  setting  to  select 
transparent  mode.)  If  you  do 
change  line  70,  remember  to 
change  the  total  in  line  40  to  reflect 
the  new  value.  Otherwise,  you'll 
get  a  false  error  message  when  you 
run  the  program. 

Next,  the  routine  sends  the 
character  codes  to  set  up  the  printer 
for  8/72-inch  (versus  the  normal 
9/72)  line  feed  length  to  account 
for  the  fact  that  the  Gemini  print 
head  has  nine  vertical  firing  pins. 


(It's  more  convenient  when  work- 
ing with  the  Commodore  graphics 
screen  to  deal  with  only  eight.) 
Changing  the  line  feed  length  re- 
moves the  gaps  between  the  lines. 

At  the  beginning  of  each  col- 
umn to  be  printed,  the  sequence 
ESC  K  nl  nl  is  sent  to  the  printer. 
The  expression  nl  -\-  nl  X  256 
gives  the  number  of  characters  to 
follow.  The  program  sends  ESC  K 
200  0  for  each  column  because 
there  are  25  rows  in  the  hi-res 
screen,  and  each  row  has  eight  lines 
(25  X  8  =  200). 

The  program  prints  the  screen 
contents  sideways  on  the  paper, 
with  each  printed  dot  correspond- 
ing to  a  lit  pixel  on  the  screen.  The 
program  scans  from  the  top  right 
comer  of  the  screen  down  to  the 
bottom  right  comer,  through  25 
rows  of  8  lines.  The  address  of  a 
particular  byte  in  the  screen  is  {320 
X  ruw)  +  (8  X  column)  +  line 
+  base,  with  column  ranging  from  0 
to  39,  row  from  0  to  24,  and  line 
from  0  to  7.  The  base  address  is  the 
starting  address  of  the  screen  bit- 
map. As  written,  this  is  assumed  to 
be  8192  ($2000).  If  you  want  to 
dump  a  hi-res  screen  located  else- 
where, just  change  the  32  at  the  end 
of  line  240  to  the  high  byte  of  the 
starting  address  of  your  screen.  For 
example,  if  your  screen  is  at  16384 
($4000),  then  change  the  32  to  64. 
(As  before,  you'll  also  have  to  ad- 
just the  total  in  line  40  to  reflect  the 
new  value.) 

Note  that  there  is  a  one-to-one 
relationship  between  the  printed 
dots  and  pixels;  this  makes  the  final 
printed  copy  about  4X5  inches. 

Like  most  hi-res  dump  pro- 
grams, this  program  can't  be  used 
to  dump  text  screens  or  sprites,  but 
its  speed,  small  size,  and  portability 
make  it  a  very  useful  and  powerful 
utility.  6 


78    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


Ultrafont+ 


This  powerful  custom  character  edi- 
tor for  the  Commodore  64,  which 
originally  appeared  in  the  July  1984 
GAZETTE,  has  been  one  of  our  most 
popular  programs.  Now  it's  been  en- 
hanced, and  a  few  minor  bugs  have 
been  removed.  We  think  you'll  be  sur- 
prised at  its  lightning  speed,  ease  of 
use,  and  unique  features.  It's  designed 
to  let  you  concentrate  on  your  artwork 
instead  of  programming  details. 


Anyone  who  has  used  graph  paper 
to  plot  out  characters,  then  tedious- 
ly converted  the  rows  of  dots  into 
numbers  can  appreciate  a  character 
editor.  Instead  of  drawing  and  eras- 
ing on  paper,  you  can  draw  your 
characters  freehand  with  a  joystick. 
"Ultrafont  +  "  offers  almost  every 
conceivable  aid  to  help  you  design 
whole  character  sets. 

Load  Ultrafont+  with  the 
command  LOAD  "ULTRA- 
FONT",8,l.  After  it's  loaded,  enter 
NEW  and  press  RETURN  to  reset 
important  memory  pointers,  then 
start  the  program  by  typing  SYS 
49152  and  pressing  RETURN. 

The  Display 

At  the  bottom  of  the  screen  you'll 
see  eight  lines  of  characters.  These 
are  the  256  characters  you  can  cus- 
tomize, arranged  in  eight  32- 
character  rows.  Note  the  normal 
character  set  in  the  top  half,  with 
reversed  images  in  the  bottom  half. 
A  flashing  square  rests  on  the  at 
(@)  symbol,  the  home  position  of 
the  character  set.  Above  the  eight 
rows  is  the  main  grid,  a  blown-up 
view  of  ten  characters.  The  bottom 
row  of  the  screen  is  reserved  for 
messages.  The  first  time  you  SYS  to 
UltrafontH-,  you'll  be  asked  wheth- 
er you  want  to  edit  the  uppercase/ 


Charles  Brannon 

graphics  character  set  or  the  lower- 
case set. 

About  The  Grid 

The  grid  is  like  a  large  window  on 
the  character  set.  You  see  the  first 
five  characters  and  the  five  beneath 
them.  Each  character  is  made  up  of 
64  pixels  (an  abbreviation  for  "pic- 
ture elements"),  arranged  in  an  8  X 
8  matrix.  A  large  red  box  shows  you 
which  character  you're  currently 
editing,  and  a  smaller  flashing 
square  is  the  cursor  you  use  to  set 
and  clear  pixels  while  you're  draw- 
ing a  character. 

You  can  use  the  cursor  keys 
(up,  down,  left,  right)  to  move  the 
large  red  cursor  to  any  character 
you  want  to  edit.  If  you  move  to  a 
character  not  on  the  large  grid  (out 
of  the  window),  the  window  auto- 
matically scrolls  to  make  the  char- 
acter appear.  You  can  also  look  at 
the  bottom  of  the  screen  to  move 
the  larger  cursor,  since  the  flashing 
square  on  the  character  set  moves 
with  the  main  grid. 

The  HOME  key  moves  the 
small  cursor  to  the  upper-left  comer 
of  the  grid.  If  you  press  it  twice,  it 
takes  you  back  to  the  top  of  the 
character  set — to  @. 

Use  a  joystick  plugged  into 
port  2  to  control  the  small  cursor 
within  the  grid.  If  you  move  the 
cursor  out  of  the  current  character, 
the  red  cursor  jumps  to  the  next 
character  in  whatever  direction  you 
are  moving.  The  display  at  the  bot- 
tom adjusts,  and  the  grid  scrolls  as 
necessary.  This  means  that  you  can 
ignore  the  traditional  boundaries 
between  characters  and  draw 
shapes  as  big  as  the  entire  character 
set  (256  X  64  pixels).  There  is  no 
wraparound  for  the  cursor  in  the 
bottom  section  of  the  screen.  When 
it  hits  an  edge,  it  will  go  no  further 


in  that  direction. 

The  joystick's  fire  button  is 
used  to  set  and  clear  points.  If  you 
press  it  when  the  cursor  is  resting 
on  a  solid  square,  the  pixel  is  turned 
off.  If  the  square  is  currently  off,  it's 
turned  on.  Holding  down  the  but- 
ton while  you  move  the  joystick 
keeps  you  in  the  same  drawing 
mode.  If  you  set  a  point,  you'll  con- 
tinue to  draw  as  you  move.  If  you 
clear  a  point,  you  can  move  around 
and  erase  points  all  over  the  screen. 

If  the  drawing  cursor  is  too  fast 
or  too  slow,  just  press  V  to  set  the 
cursor  velocity.  Answer  the  prompt 
with  a  speed  from  0  (slow)  to  9  (very 
fast — but  too  fast  for  practical  use). 

Manipulations 

There  are  several  functions  that  af- 
fect the  current  character  (where 
the  red  box  is).  You  can  rotate,  shift, 
mirror,  reverse,  erase,  replace,  and 
copy  characters.  The  best  way  to 
learn  is  to  play  with  the  functions. 
It's  really  a  lot  of  fun.  The  following 
keys  control  each  function. 

Function  Keys 

fl  Scrolls  character  right.  All  pix- 
els move  right.  The  rightmost 
column  of  pixels  wraps  around 
to  the  left. 

f2  Scrolls  character  left.  Wrap- 
around is  like  fl. 

£3  Scrolls  character  down.  All 
pixels  move  down.  The  last 
row  of  pixels  wraps  around  to 
the  top. 

f4  Scrolls  character  up.  Wrap- 
around is  like  f3. 

R  Rotate.  Rotates  the  character 
90  degress.  Press  twice  to  flip 
the  character  upside  down. 

M  Mirror.  Creates  a  mirror  image 
of  the  character  left  to  right. 

CLR  (SHIFT-CLR/HOME)  Erases 
the  current  character. 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     79 


CTRL-R  or  CTRL-9  Reverses  the 
character.  All  set  dots  are 
clear,  and  all  empty  dots  are 
set.  The  bottom  half  of  the 
character  set  is  the  reversed 
image  of  the  top  half. 

CTRL-back  arrow  (•-)  Copies  up- 
per half  of  the  character  set, 
reverses  it,  and  places  it  in  the 
lower  half.  This  way,  you  have 
to  redraw  only  the  normal 
characters,  then  use  CTRL- 
back  arrow  to  create  the 
reverse  character  set. 

F  Fix.  Use  this  if  you  want  to 
restore  the  normal  pattern  for 
the  character.  If  you've  rede- 
fined the  letter  A  and  press  F 
while  the  red  cursor  is  on  the 
character,  the  Commodore 
pattern  for  A  will  be  copied 
back  from  ROM. 

T  Type.  This  lets  you  try  out 
your  character  set.  The  screen 
clears,  with  a  copy  of  the  char- 
acter set  provided  for  refer- 
ence. You  can  type  and  move 
the  cursor  around,  just  as  in 
BASIC.  This  is  handy  for  envi- 
sioning sample  screens  and  fit- 
ting together  multiple- 
character  shapes.  Press  the 
RUN/STOP  key  to  exit  from 
Type  and  return  to  Ultra- 
font +. 

Saving  And  Loading 
Character  Sets 

To  save  your  creation  to  tape  or 
disk,  press  S,  then  either  T  for  tape 
or  D  for  disk.  When  requested,  en- 
ter the  filename,  up  to  16  charac- 
ters. Don't  use  the  0:  prefix  if  you're 
using  a  disk  drive;  it's  automatically 
added  for  you.  The  screen  clears, 
displays  the  appropriate  messages, 
and  then  returns  to  the  editing 
screen  if  there  are  no  errors.  If  there 
are  errors,  such  as  the  disk  being 
full,  Ultrafont+  will  read  the  disk 
error  message  and  display  it  at  the 
bottom  of  the  screen.  (Tape  users 
should  remember  that  the  64  is 
never  able  to  detect  an  error  during 
a  tape  save.) 

Press  a  key  after  you've  read 
the  message  and  try  to  correct  the 
cause  of  the  error  before  you  save 
again. 

To  load  a  character  set  previ- 
ously saved,  press  L  and  answer  the 
TAPE  OR  DISK  prompt.  Enter  the 


filename.  If  you're  using  tape,  be 
sure  the  tape  is  rewound  and  ready. 
After  the  load,  you'll  be  returned  to 
the  editing  screen;  a  glance  is  all  it 
takes  to  see  that  the  set  is  loaded.  If 
an  error  is  detected  on  a  tape  load, 
you'll  see  the  message  ERROR  ON 
SAVE/LOAD.  Once  again,  if  you're 
using  disk,  the  error  message  will  be 
displayed.  Press  a  key  to  return  to 
editing  so  that  you  can  try  again. 

Copying  And 
Moving  Characters 

You  can  copy  one  character  to  an- 
other with  function  keys  7  and  8. 
When  you  press  f7,  the  current  char- 
acter flashes  briefly,  then  is  copied 
into  a  buffer.  Ultrafont+  remem- 
bers that  character  pattern.  You  can 
position  the  cursor  where  you  want 
to  copy  the  character  before  pressing 
f8.  The  memorized  character  re- 
places the  character  the  cursor  is 
resting  on.  You  can  also  use  the 
buffer  as  a  fail-safe  device.  Before 
you  begin  to  edit  a  character  you've 
already  worked  on,  press  f7  to  store 
it  safely  away.  That  way,  if  you 
accidentally  wipe  it  out  or  otherwise 
garble  the  character,  you  can  press 
f8  to  bring  back  your  earlier  version. 

Creating  DATA  Statements 

A  very  useful  command,  CTRL-D, 
allows  you  to  create  DATA  state- 
ments for  whatever  characters 
you've  defined.  UItrafont+  doesn't 
make  DATA  statements  for  all  the 
characters,  just  the  ones  you've 
changed.  After  you  press  CTRL-D, 
Ultrafont+  adds  the  DATA  state- 
ments to  the  end  of  whatever  pro- 
gram you  have  in  BASIC  memory. 
If  there  is  no  program,  the  DATA 
statements  exist  alone. 

If  the  screen  turns  to  garbage 
when  you  press  CTRL-D,  then  you 
probably  didn't  type  NEW  after 
loading  Ultrafont  +  .  The  NEW 
command  resets  some  important 
pointers  after  you've  loaded  a  ma- 
chine language  program  from  im- 
mediate mode. 

You  can  load  Ultrafont  +  ,  en- 
ter NEW  to  reset  the  BASIC  point- 
ers, load  a  program  you're  working 
on,  then  SYS  49152  to  Ultrafont  + 
to  add  DATA  to  the  end  of  the 
program.  The  DATA  statements  al- 
ways start  at  line  63000,  so  you 
may  want  to  renumber  them.  If  you 
press  CTRL-D  twice,  another  set  of 


DATA  statements  will  be  append- 
ed, also  numbered  from  line  num- 
bers 63000  and  up.  Since  the  keys 
repeat  if  held  down,  just  tap  CTRL- 
D.  If  you  hold  it  down,  you  may 
notice  that  hundreds  of  DATA 
statements  have  been  created.  See 
the  notes  at  the  end  of  this  article 
for  more  details  on  using  DATA 
statements  in  your  own  programs. 

Exiting  Uitrafont+ 

After  you  create  the  DATA,  you'll 
still  be  in  Ultrafont  +  .  If  you  want 
to  exit  to  see  the  DATA  statements 
or  go  on  to  other  things,  press 
CTRL-X.  The  screen  will  reset  to 
the  normal  colors  and  you'll  see  the 
READY  prompt.  If  you've  made 
DATA,  LIST  reveals  it.  It's  best  to 
enter  the  command  CLR  to  make 
sure  BASIC  is  initialized  properly 
after  creating  DATA  statements. 

One  thing  to  watch  out  for: 
Don't  use  RUN/STOP-RESTORE 
to  exit  Ultrafont4-.  The  program 
moves  screen  memory  from  the  de- 
fault area  at  address  1024,  and  the 
RUN/STOP-RESTORE  combina- 
tion does  not  reset  the  operating 
system  pointers  to  screen  memory. 
If  you  do  press  it,  you  won't  be  able 
to  see  what  you're  typing.  To  fix  it, 
blindly  type  POKE  648,4  or  SYS 
49152  to  reenter  Ultrafont+  so  you 
can  exit  properly,  via  CTRL-X. 

Reentering  Uitrafont+ 

To  restart  Ultrafont+  within  the 
program,  press  SHIFT-RUN/ 
STOP.  After  you've  exited  to 
BASIC,  you  can  rerun  Ultrafont  + 
with  SYS  49152.  You'll  see  the 
character  set  you  were  working  on 
previously,  along  with  the  message 
USE  ROM  SET?  (Y/N).  Usually, 
Ultrafont+  will  copy  the  ROM 
character  patterns  into  RAM  where 
you  can  change  them.  If  you  press 
N,  however,  the  set  you  were  previ- 
ously working  on  is  untouched. 
Press  any  other  key,  like  RETURN, 
to  reset  the  characters  to  the  ROM 
standard.  You  can  copy  either  the 
uppercase/graphics  set  from  ROM, 
or  the  lowercase  set. 

A  Whole  New  Worid 
Of  Muiticoior 

You're  not  finished  yet.  There's  yet 
another  mode  of  operation  within 
Ultrafont  +  ,  the  multicolor  mode. 
In  multicolor  mode,  any  character 


80    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gaiefte 


can  contain  up  to  four  colors  simul- 
taneously. One  has  to  be  used  for 
the  background,  which  leaves  three 
for  the  character  itself.  Multicolor 
changes  the  way  the  computer  in- 
terprets character  patterns.  Instead 
of  a  one  bit  representing  a  solid 
pixel  and  a  zero  representing  a 
blank,  the  eight  bits  are  organized 
as  four  pairs  of  bits.  Each  pair  can 
represent  four  possibilities:  00,  01, 
10,  and  11.  Each  pair  is  also  a  num- 
ber in  decimal  from  0  to  3,  and 
represents  one  of  the  four  colors. 

Ultrafont+  makes  multicolor 
easy.  You  don't  have  to  keep  track 
of  bit  pairs  any  more  than  you  have 
to  convert  binary  to  decimal.  Just 
press  the  f5  key.  Presto — the  whole 
screen  changes.  The  normal  charac- 
ters are  rather  unrecognizable,  and 
the  drawing  cursor  is  twice  as  wide 
(since  eight  bits  have  been  reduced 
to  four  pixel-pairs,  making  each  dot 
twice  as  wide).  You  have  only  four 
dots  horizontally  per  character,  but 
you  can  easily  combine  several 
characters  to  form  larger  shapes. 

Multicolor  redefines  the  way 
the  joystick  and  fire  button  work. 
The  fire  button  always  lays  down  a 
colored  rectangle  in  the  color  you're 
currently  working  with.  That  color 
is  shown  in  the  center  of  the  draw- 
ing cursor.  Press  the  number  keys 
1,  2,  3,  or  4  to  choose  different 
colors  to  draw  with.  The  number  of 
the  key  is  one  more  than  the  bit 
pattern,  so  color  1  is  bit  pattern  00, 
and  color  4  is  bit  pattern  11.  When 
you  first  SYS  to  Ultrafont  +  ,  the 
four  colors  show  up  distinctly  on  a 
color  TV  or  monitor. 

You  can  easily  change  the  col- 
ors. Just  hold  down  SHIFT  and 
press  the  appropriate  number  key 
to  change  that  number's  color.  You 
will  see  the  message  PRESS 
COLOR  KEY.  Now  press  one  of  the 
color  keys  from  CTRL-1  to  CTRL-8, 
or  from  Commodore- 1  to  Commo- 
dore-8.  Hold  down  the  CTRL  or 
Commodore  key  as  you  do  this. 
Instantly,  that  color,  and  every- 
thing previously  drawn  in  that 
color,  is  changed. 

Three  of  the  colors  {including 
1,  the  background  color)  can  be  any 
of  the  16  colors.  But  because  of  the 
way  multicolor  works,  color  4  (rep- 
resented by  bit  pattern  11,  or  3  in 
decimal)  can  only  be  one  of  the  8 
CTRL  colors.  Assigning  it  one  of  the 


Quick  Reference:  Uttrafonf-h  Commands 


Cursor  keys 

HOME  (CLR/HOME) 

V 

fl 

f2(SHIFT-fl) 

f3 

f4(SHIFT-f3) 

R 

M 

CLR  (SHIFT-CLR/HOME) 

CTRL-R,  CTRL-9 

CTRL-back  arrow  (-) 

CTRL-F 

F 

L 

S 

T 

£7 

f8  (SHIFT-f7> 

f5 

f6  (SHIFT-f5) 

CTRL-D 

SHIFT-RUN/STOP 

CTRL-X 


Move  to  next  character 

Moves  the  cursor  to  upper-left  comer.  Press  twice  to  go 

back  to  start 

Cursor  velocity;  answer  from  0  (slow)  to  9  (fast) 

Scrolls  right  with  wraparound 

Scrolls  left 

Scrolls  down 

Scrolls  up 

Rotates  90  degrees;  press  twice  to  invert 

Mirror  image 

Erases  current  character 

Reverse  pixels 

Copies  upper  half  of  character  set,  reversed,  to  lower  half 

Copies  first  four  rows  of  characters,  reversed,  to  bottom 

four 

Fix  characters  from  ROM  pattern 

Load.  Tape  or  Disk,  Filename 

Save.  Tape  or  Disk,  Filename 

Typing  mode:  RUN/STOP  to  exit 

Memorizes  character  (keep) 

Recalls  character  (put) 

Switches  to  multicolor  character  mode 

Returns  to  normal  character  mode 

Makes  DATA  statements 

Restarts  UltrafontH- 

Exits  Ultrafont-t-  to  BASIC 


Commodore  logo  colors  just  picks 
the  color  shown  on  the  face  of  the 
color  key.  Incidentally,  it's  the  color 
of  bit  pattern  3  (color  4)  that 
changes  according  to  the  character 
color  as  set  in  color  memory.  The 
other  colors  are  programmed  in 
multicolor  registers  1  and  2  (loca- 
tions 53282  and  53283),  so  all  char- 
acters share  these  two  colors.  When 
you  want  to  vary  a  certain  color 
without  affecting  the  rest  of  the 
characters,  you'll  want  to  draw  it  in 
color  4. 

Some  of  the  commands  in  the 
multicolor  mode  aren't  as  useful  as 
others.  You  have  to  press  fl  and  f2 
twice  to  shift  a  character,  since  they 
only  shift  one  bit,  which  may  cause 
all  the  colors  to  change.  You  can 
use  CTRL-R  or  CTRL-9  (Reverse)  to 
reverse  all  the  colors  (color  1  be- 
comes color  4,  color  2  becomes 
color  3,  color  3  becomes  color  2, 
and  color  4  becomes  color  1).  R 
(Rotate)  changes  all  the  colors  and 
is  rather  useless  unless  you  press  it 
twice  to  just  turn  the  characters  up- 
side down.  M  (Mirror)  works  as  it 
did  before  except  that  colors  2  and  3 
are  switched.  And  you  can  still 
copy  characters  using  f 7  and  f8  (see 
above). 

Returning  To  Normal 

You  can  switch  instantly  back  to  the 
normal  character  mode  by  pressing 
f6  (SHIFT-f5).  If  you  were  drawing 
in  multicolor,  you  can  see  the  bit 


patterns  that  make  up  each  color. 
Multicolor  characters  look  just  as 
strange  in  normal  mode  as  normal 
characters  look  in  multicolor. 

If  you  changed  colors  in  the 
multicolor  mode,  some  of  the  colors 
in  the  normal  mode  may  have  been 
altered.  You  can  change  these  colors 
just  as  you  did  in  multicolor  mode. 
Press  SHIFT- 1  to  change  the  color  of 
the  empty  pixels,  and  SHIFT-2  to 
change  the  color  of  the  on  pixels. 
Use  SHIFT-4  to  change  the  color  of 
the  eight  rows  of  characters. 

How  To  Use  The 
DATA  Statements 

The  DATA  statements  are  created 
from  lines  63000  and  up,  as  many 
as  necessary.  Each  line  of  data  has 
nine  numbers.  The  first  number  is 
the  internal  code  of  the  character 
(the  code  you  use  when  POKEing 
to  the  screen).  It  represents  an  offset 
into  the  table  of  character  patterns. 
The  eight  bytes  that  follow  are  the 
decimal  numbers  for  the  eight  bytes 
needed  to  define  any  character. 
Here's  a  sample  program  to  read 
them  and  display  them: 

10  POKE  56,48:  CLR 

50  READ  A:  IF  A=  -1  THEN  70 

60  FOR  1  =  0  TO  7:  READ  B 

63  POKE  12288  -(-  A  *  8  +  I,  B 

66  NEXT:  GOTO  50 

70  PRINT  CHR$(147);"{10  DOWN}": 

REM  TEN  CURSOR  DOWNS 
80  FOR  I  -  0  TO  7:  FOR  J  =  0  TO  31 
83  POKE  1028  +  J  -(-  I  •  40,  I  *  32  +  J 
86  POKE  55300  +  J  -I-  I  •  40,  1:  NEXT: 


Best  of  COMPUTtI  and  Gazette    81 


NEXT 
90  POKE  53272,  (PEEK  (53272)  AND  240) 

OR  12 
95  END 

You'll  also  need  to  add  the  fol- 
lowing line  to  the  end  of  your 
DATA  statements: 

63999  DATA  -1 

If  you  want  to  have  your  cake 
and  eat  it,  too — that  is,  also  have  the 
normal  ROM  patterns — copy  them 
from  ROM  down  to  RAM  by  adding: 

20  POKE  56334,  PEEK  (56334)  AND  254: 

POKE  1,  PEEK  (1)  AND  251 
30  FOR  I  =  0  TO  2047:  POKE  12288  +  I, 

PEEK  (53248  +  I):  NEXT 
40  POKE  1,  PEEK  (1)  OR  4:  POKE  56334, 

PEEK  (56334)  OR  1 

To  turn  on  multicolor  mode, 
POKE  53270,  PEEK(53270)  OR  16. 
Three  color  registers  are  at 
53281-53283.  The  fourth  is  the  in- 
dividual character  color,  which  is 
changed  by  holding  down  CTRL  or 
Commodore  and  pressing  a  num- 
bered color  key  on  the  top  row  of 
the  keyboard. 

Custom  Characters  On 
The  128 

Commodore  128  Users  can  use  Ul- 


trafont+  to  create  characters  for  the 
128's  40-column  screen. 

First,  go  into  64  mode  and  load 
Ultrafont  +  .  You'll  be  using  the 
characters  in  128  mode,  but  you 
have  to  create  them  in  64  mode. 
When  you're  satisfied  with  the  new 
character  set,  save  it  to  disk,  follow- 
ing the  instructions  above.  (It's  eas- 
ier to  use  a  disk  file  on  the  128,  so 
don't  use  the  DATA  option.)  To 
load  the  character  set  into  the  128, 
add  these  lines  at  the  beginning  of 
your  own  program: 

10  GRAPHICl:  GRAPHICO 

20  BLOAD  "characterset",  BO,  P14336 

30  POKE  2604,30:  POKE  217,4 

That's  all  there  is  to  it.  Line  10 
allocates  memory  for  a  hi-res  screen 
by  moving  up  the  start  of  BASIC. 
This  is  necessary  to  protect  the 
character  set  from  interference  from 
your  program.  Note  that  while  the 
custom  characters  are  in  this  mem- 
ory, you  should  not  use  the  hi-res 
screen.  Also,  if  you  use  the  SPRDEF 
command  to  create  sprites,  the  hi- 
res area  is  cleared  and  your  charac- 
ter set  will  be  erased.  After  exiting 
the  sprite  editor,  press  RUN- 
/STOP-    RESTORE    and    BLOAD 


the  characters  again. 

Line  20  loads  the  character  set 
you  created  into  locations  14336- 
16383.  Substitute  the  appropriate 
filename  for  "characterset"  in  this 
line.  Line  30  then  sets  a  pointer  to 
14336.  To  move  it  to  another  loca- 
tion in  memory,  the  character  set 
must  start  at  an  even  multiple  of 
2048;  divide. the  starting  address  by 
1024  and  add  16  (this  is  the  number 
to  POKE  into  2604).  The  POKE  to 
217  tells  the  128  to  look  for  the 
character  in  RAM  instead  of  ROM. 

For  multicolor  characters,  a 
couple  of  additional  POKEs  are 
needed: 

40  POKE  218,255:  BANK  15:  POKE 
53270,PEEK(53270)OR1 6 

The  POKE  to  218  turns  off  the 
split-screen  option,  which  is  ac- 
cessed by  the  BASIC  commands 
GRAPHIC2  and  GRAPHIC4.  Split 
screens  use  a  raster  interrupt  to 
switch  back  and  forth;  this  interrupt 
interferes  with  multicolor  mode. 
Once  the  interrupt  is  disabled,  it's 
safe  to  go  into  multicolor  mode 
with  the  POKE  to  53270.  To  change 
the  colors  in  multicolor  mode,  use 
the  COLOR  command.  ® 


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64  into  an  SO-column  machine  with- 
out affecting  the  normal  screen  edit- 
ing keys.  We've  also  included 
"Custom-80,"  which  allows  you  to 
create  your  own  80-column  character 
set  with  a  joystick. 


"Screen-80"  offers  a  full  80-column 
screen  and  provides  you  the  ability 
to  use  your  64  to  write,  edit,  and 
even  run  BASIC  programs  (includ- 
ing some  commercial  software). 
You  can  also  use  all  the  cursor  con- 
trols of  the  normal  screen  editor.  It 
runs  concurrently  with  the  normal 
system,  allowing  a  quick  switch  be- 
tween 40-  and  80-column  modes. 
Best  of  all,  little  memory  is 
used  by  Screen-80.  The  program 
consists  of  approximately  3K  of  ma- 
chine language  which  goes  into 
RAM  "underneath"  ROM.  There 
are  also  43  bytes  which  are  placed 
in  a  little  used  area  of  RAM  (loca- 
tions 710-753).  Since  the  bulk  of 
Screen-80  uses  the  same  memory 
locations  as  the  operating  system, 
and  the  location  of  the  43  bytes 
used  from  RAM  are  normally  un- 
used anyway,  Screen-80  works 
without  any  apparent  loss  of  pro- 
gramming space. 

Using  80  Columns 

Once  you  enter  80-column  mode, 
the  first  thing  you're  likely  to  notice 
is  the  smaller  size  characters.  Since 
increasing  the  size  of  the  screen  is 
impossible,  adding  40  more  col- 
umns to  the  64  makes  it  necessary 
to  halve  the  size  of  each  character. 
Some  televisions  may  not  produce 
a  clear  enough  picture  to  make 
these  smaller  characters  readable, 
so  you  may  find  it  difficult  to  read 
text  in  80  columns.  We  recommend 


Gregg  Peele  And  Kevin  Mortin 

using  a  video  monitor  with  the 
color  turned  off.  You  may  want  to 
change  the  character  set  to  suit  your 
personal  taste  or  needs.  "Custom- 
80"  (discussed  later)  is  designed  to 
let  you  do  just  that. 

Screen-80  provides  a  different 
cursor  than  does  the  normal  40- 
column  mode.  Rather  than  a  blink- 
ing block,  it  uses  an  underline 
character;  but  like  the  normal  cur- 
sor, it  can  move  anywhere  on  the 
screen.  In  fact,  you  can  use  all  the 
cursor  control  keys,  just  as  you 
would  normally,  to  insert  or  delete, 
home  the  cursor,  clear  the  screen, 
or  create  BASIC  program  lines. 

Both  uppercase/graphics  and 
lower/uppercase  modes  are  sup- 
ported in  Screen-80,  but  you  cannot 
toggle  between  these  modes  with 
the  SHIFT-Commodore  key  combi- 
nation. Instead,  you  can  put  the 
screen  editor  in  lower-/uppercase 
mode  by  pressing  the  CTRL  and  N 
keys  simultaneously,  or  by  printing 
CHR$(14).  To  return  to  uppercase/ 
graphics  mode,  simply  print 
CHR$(142)  to  the  screen.  These 
methods  affect  only  characters 
printed  after  these  commands. 
Thus,  you  may  have  both  sets  (for 
example,  graphics  and  lowercase) 
on  the  screen  at  the  same  time  for 
increased  programming  flexibility. 

You  can  change  the  color  of  the 
background,  text,  or  border  by  sim- 
ply POKEing  the  appropriate  color 
number  into  location  53281  (for  the 
background),  location  646  (for  text), 
or  location  53280  (for  the  border). 
Changing  text  color  changes  the 
color  of  all  text  on  the  screen.  If  you 
want  to  change  the  background  or 
text  color  during  program  mode, 
print  a  CHR$(13)  after  POKEing 
the  appropriate  location.  Since 
color  memory  is  fixed  on  the  64,  it's 


impossible  to  have  true  80-column 
color.  Therefore,  Screen-80  does 
not  recognize  color  codes  in  PRINT 
statements  as  being  any  different 
from  other  graphics  characters.  All 
printing  to  the  screen  uses  the  color 
specified  in  location  646. 

Graphics  And 
Sound  Routines 

Screen-80  can  be  used  with  sprites, 
high-resolution  graphics,  and 
sound — just  like  the  normal  64 
screen.  Since  this  program  actually 
uses  a  hi-res  screen,  you  can  also 
use  it  for  other  graphics  displays. 
You  can  even  have  text  and  hi-res 
graphics  on  the  screen  at  the  same 
time.  (Check  your  Programmer's 
Reference  Guide  for  more  detailed 
information  on  how  to  plot  points 
on  the  hi-res  screen.) 

To  plot  points  (or  do  anything 
else)  to  the  hi-res  screen,  it  is  im- 
portant to  know  how  to  POKE  and 
PEEK  to  the  screen.  The  hi-res 
screen  for  Screen-80  is  located  at 
57344  ($E000).  Since  this  screen 
memory  shares  addresses  with 
ROM,  you  may  POKE  graphics 
safely  to  the  screen,  but  attempting 
to  PEEK  from  the  screen  will  give 
you  values  from  the  ROMs.  To 
PEEK  these  screen  locations,  you 
must  first  disable  interrupts,  then 
use  location  1  to  reconfigure  the  64. 
Location  1  allows  you  to  selectively 
replace  ROM  locations  with 
RAM — making  it  possible  to  have  a 
full  64K  of  RAM  on  the  64.  Once 
you  reconfigure  the  64,  you  can 
PEEK  locations  on  the  screen.  Since 
the  operating  system  must  access 
the  ROMs  to  function  properly,  you 
must  immediately  restore  the  64  to 
its  normal  configuration  and  re- 
enable  interrupts.  Here's  an  ex- 
ample of  how  to  do  it  in  BASIC: 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     83 


10  POKE  56334,PEEK(56334)AND254; 

REM  DISABLE  INTERRUPTS 
20  POKE  1,53:  REM  RECONFIGURE  64 
30  PRINT  PEEK(57344):  REM  PEEK  THE 

FIRST  BYTE  OF  SCREEN  RAM 
40  POKE  1,55:  REM  RETURN  64  TO 

NORMAL 
50  POKE  56334, PEEK(56334)ORl:  REM 

REENABLE  INTERRUPTS 

Using  sprites  in  Screen-80  re- 
quires all  sprite  data  to  be  kept 
within  the  same  16K  block  as  the 
hi-res  screen.  Locations  49352 
($C000)  to  53247  ($CFFF)  are  per- 
fect places  to  put  sprite  data.  The 
sprite  pointers  for  Screen-80  are  lo- 
cated at  53248  +  2040  to  53248  + 
2047.  To  cause  sprite  0  to  get  its 
data  from  49152  (SCOOO),  put  a  zero 
into  location  53248  +  2040.  Since 
POKEs  to  this  area  of  memory  are 
normally  intercepted  by  the  I/O 
chip,  we  must  disable  interrupts 
and  I/O  to  put  a  value  into  these 
locations.  Here's  a  program  to  put  a 
sprite  onto  the  screen: 

10  V  =  53248 

20  POKE  V,100:POKE  V  + 1,100 

30  POKE  V-l-39,2 

40  POKE  56334,PEEK(56334)AND254 

50  POKE  1,PEEK(1)AND251 

60  POKE  53248  +  2040,0 

70  POKE  l,PEEK(l)OR4 

80  POKE  56334,PEEK(56334)ORl 

90  POKE  V  +  2U 

Creating  sound  from  within 
Screen-80  is  done  exactly  the  same 
way  as  from  the  normal  screen.  In 
fact,  since  you  want  to  POKE  the 
information  to  the  SID  chip  (in  the 
I/O  area),  you  don't  have  to  disable 
interrupts  or  do  any  bank  switch- 
ing, as  was  necessary  for  hi-res 
graphics  or  sprites.  The  normal 
POKEs  will  do. 

Using  Other  Programs 
With  Screen-80 

This  program  is  designed  to  inter- 
cept any  calls  to  the  normal  Kemal 
PRINT  routine  ($FFD2).  Software 
which  bypasses  this  routine  or 
POKEs  directly  to  the  screen  will 
not  work  correctly  with  Screen-80. 
An  example  of  a  program  which 
bypasses  the  PRINT  vector  is  the 
DOS  wedge  program  (on  the  TEST/ 
DEMO  disk  which  comes  with 
1541  disk  drives).  Fortunately,  this 
problem  can  easily  be  fixed  by 
changing  all  PRINTs  to  pass 
through  the  standard  vector.  This 
program,  when  used  in  place  of  the 
normal  DOS  boot  program  ("C-64 
Wedge"),  changes  these  references. 


10  IF  A  =  0  THEN  A  =  l:LOAD"DOS 

5.1  ",8,1 
20  FOR  1  =  1  TO  7:READ  A:POKE  A,210: 

POKE  A-I-1,255:NEXT 
30  DATA  52644,52650,52712,52726, 

52752,52765,53075 
40  SYS  52224 

With  these  changes,  the  DOS  sup- 
port program  will  work  with 
Screen-80. 

One  of  the  best  applications  of 
Screen-80  is  with  terminal  soft- 
ware. We  tested  Screen-80  with  the 
terminal  software  that  comes  with 
the  VICmodem  and  the  1650  Auto- 
modem  by  Commodore.  Since  both 
programs  use  the  standard  PRINT 
vector,  they  work  fine.  Programs 
which  depend  on  sprites  should  be 
avoided,  as  should  programs  which 
move  screen  memory  or  otherwise 
change  the  normal  configuration  of 
the  64. 

SpeedScript  does  not  use  the 
PRINT  vector  at  $FFD2  to  update 
the  screen,  which  makes  it  incom- 
patible with  Screen-80. 

How  To  Use  Screen-80 

To  use  Screen-80,  LOAD  the 
program  from  disk  using  the  nor- 
mal format  for  LOADing  BASIC 
programs; 

LOAD  "filenaine",8 

Notice  that  we  LOADed  our  pro- 
gram without  the  ,1  that  generally 
accompanies  ML  programs.  If  the 
program  loaded  correctly,  you  can 
LIST  it.  You  should  see  one  line 
with  a  SYS  command.  Simply  RUN 
the  program  and  you'll  have 
Screen-80.  Pressing  RUN/STOP- 
RESTORE  will  put  you  into  40- 
column  mode,  and  typing  SYS710 
and  pressing  RETURN  will  bring 
back  80  columns.  You  can  make  a 
backup  copy  by  simply  saving  it  as 
you  would  a  BASIC  program; 
SAVE  "filenaine",8 

At  this  point,  type  NEW  to  begin 
programming  in  SOcolumns. 

Custom-80:  Creating  Your 
Own  Character  Set 

"Custom-80"  allows  you  to  create 
your  own  character  set  for  use  with 
Screen-80.  It's  easy  to  use  and  re- 
quires a  joystick. 

Custom-80  "borrows"  the 
character  set  from  Screen-80  and 
then  moves  it  to  a  safe  location  in 
memory  for  editing.  After  editing, 
you  can  return  the  custom  charac- 


ters to  the  Screen-80  program,  or 
save  your  new  character  set  to  disk 
or  tape.  To  load  Custom-80,  type; 

LOAD"CUSTOM-80",8,1 

After  loading  it  into  memory, 
type  NEW  to  reset  the  BASIC  point- 
ers. Next,  LOAD  Screen-80  into 
memory  and  SYS  49152.  This  puts 
you  in  Custom-80  and,  at  the  same 
time,  accesses  the  character  set  in- 
cluded with  Screen-80. 

The  Screen-80  character  set  is 
displayed  in  the  lower  half  of  the 
screen,  while  the  current  character 
being  edited  is  framed  by  a  yellow 
cursor.  In  the  upper-left  comer  of 
the  screen  the  character  is  enlarged 
for  editing,  and  brief  instructions 
are  provided  to  the  right. 

Customizing  Characters 

You  can  choose  which  character 
you  want  to  edit  by  moving  the 
cursor  around  the  screen  using  the 
joystick  or  the  cursor  keys.  The 
flashing  blue  square  indicates  the 
current  pixel  in  the  character  you 
are  editing.  To  set  the  pixel,  press 
the  fire  button  on  the  joystick.  To 
reset  the  pixel,  press  the  fire  button 
again. 

Press  SHIFT  and  CLR/HOME 
to  clear  all  the  pixels  in  the  charac- 
ter you're  editing.  (This  will  not 
affect  the  characters  previously 
edited.)  To  home  the  cursor  to  the 
first  character,  press  CLR/HOME 
without  pressing  SHIFT.  To  copy  a 
character  from  one  position  to  an- 
other, press  fl  to  store  the  current 
character  into  the  buffer.  Then 
move  the  cursor  to  the  new  position 
of  the  character  and  press  f7  to 
retrieve  it  from  the  buffer. 

Pressing  S  saves  the  character 
set  to  tape  or  disk  as  a  short  pro- 
gram file.  It  can  then  be  loaded  back 
into  memory  with  the  L  command. 
When  loading  or  saving,  you  will 
first  be  asked  for  the  name  of  the 
file,  then  asked  to  press  T  for  tape 
or  D  for  Disk.  If  an  error  occurs 
during  a  disk  operation,  the  pro- 
gram will  return  with  the  error 
message. 

If  you  wish  to  make  the  new 
character  set  a  permanent  part  of 
Screen-80,  press  X.  This  puts  the 
redefined  character  set  back  into 
Screen-80  and  exits  to  BASIC.  You 
can  then  save  the  new  version  of 
Screen-80  to  disk  with  the  rede- 
fined characters  already  in  the  pro- 


64    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


gram  by  entering: 

SAVE"SCREEN-80",8 

The  next  time  you  run  Screen-80, 
you'll  have  your  new  character  set 
in  the  program. 

If  you  wish  to  use  various  char- 
acter sets  with  Screen-80,  you 
should  save  the  character  sets  to 
tape  or  disk  using  the  method  just 
discussed  and  load  the  individual 
character  sets  by  using  the  program 
"Custom  Loader"  while  in  Screen- 
80.  This  program  LOADs  the  new 
character  set  into  Screen-80  after  it 
is  activated.  When  the  program 
prompts  you  for  the  name  of  the 
character  set  you  want  to  load,  en- 
ter the  filename,  comma,  and  the 
number  of  the  device  you  want  to 
LOAD  the  character  set  from.  Use  8 
for  disk,  1  for  tape. 

One  important  note:  You  can- 
not SYS  to  Custom-80  from  Screen- 
80.  You  must  press  RUN/STOP- 
RESTORE  to  leave  Screen-80 
before  typing  SYS  49152  to  run 
Custom-80. 

How  It  Works 

First,  Custom-80  performs  a  block 
memory  move  of  the  character  set 
data  from  Screen-80  to  12288 
($3000).  This  is  done  to  make  it 
easier  to  display  the  character  set  at 
the  bottom  of  the  screen. 

Next,  a  raster  interrupt  splits 
the  screen  to  show  both  the  rede- 
fined character  set  and  the  normal 
character  set.  The  instructions  and 
the  enlarged  character  are  printed 
on  the  top  half  of  the  screen.  The 
enlarged  character  is  a  4  X  8  matrix 
of  reverse  5HIFT-Os.  Before  enter- 
ing the  main  loop,  all  variables  are 
initialized. 

The  main  loop  has  two  major 
routines.  The  first  routine  checks 
the  joystick  and  keyboard.  If  a  key 
is  pressed,  the  appropriate  flag  is 
set.  Pressing  X  sends  the  program 
to  the  routine  that  moves  the  char- 
acter set  back  into  Screen-80.  The  S 
key  saves  a  character  set,  while  the 
L  key  loads  a  character  set. 

The  second  routine  prints  the 
enlarged  character  on  the  screen.  If 
any  flags  were  set,  this  routine  han- 
dles them.  It  takes  care  of  the  save- 
to-buffer  routine,  the  get-from- 
buffer  routine,  the  clear-character 
routine,  and  the  routine  that  han- 
dles the  flashing  of  the  blue  cursor 
in  the  enlarged  character.  ® 


Skyscape 


Robert  M.  Simons 


This  unique  program,  written  by  a 
planetarium  director,  presents  the  sky 
as  it  can  be  viewed  at  any  date  and 
time  from  the  year  1977  onward — 
including  zodiac  constellations  and 
all  the  visible  planets.  It  also  calcu- 
lates planet  tables,  positions  of  the 
sun,  and  phases  of  the  moon  for  any 
date  and  time  from  1977  into  the 
future.  "Skyscape"  is  both  education- 
al and  entertaining. 


For  thousands  of  years  the  sun, 
moon,  and  planets  in  our  solar  sys- 
tem have  excited  human  imagina- 
tion. In  ancient  times  they  were 
regarded  as  gods  whose  distant  mo- 
tions influenced  the  course  of 
earthly  events.  Though  we  now  un- 
derstand more  about  the  true  na- 
ture of  celestial  objects,  many  facts 
remain  unknown,  and  a  brilliant 
nighttime  sky  still  presents  an  in- 
spiring spectacle. 

Whether  you're  seriously  in- 
terested in  the  sky  or  just  casually 
curious,  "Skyscape"  is  a  convenient 
tool  for  extending  your  knowledge. 
It  opens  a  movable  window  on  the 
heavens,  displaying  the  position  of 
our  sun,  moon,  and  neighboring 
planets  from  almost  any  location  on 
Earth,  at  any  point  in  time  from 
1977  into  the  distant  future.  Since  it 
performs  all  the  necessary  calcula- 
tions, you  can  enjoy  and  learn  from 
this  program  even  if  you're  not  an 
expert  in  astronomy.  In  addition  to 
providing  data  about  the  position  of 


celestial  objects,  it  draws  a  sky  map 
on  the  screen,  showing  each  object 
as  it  would  appear  to  you  at  the 
chosen  location  and  time. 

Post,  Present,  Or  Future 

Skyscape  begins  by  asking  you  to 
answer  several  questions.  Enter  the 
year,  choosing  any  year  from  1977 
forward.  In  some  ways  this  is  the 
most  important  input  of  all,  since 
objects  in  our  solar  system  move 
significantly  from  one  year  to  the 
next.  After  you  choose  the  year. 
Skyscape  allows  you  to  enter  the 
month  and  day. 

Next  you  must  enter  the  lati- 
tude (north/south  position  on 
Earth)  from  which  you  wish  to  view 
the  sky.  Latitude  0  places  you,  the 
observer,  at  the  equator.  Latitudes 
1-90  place  you  in  the  northern 
hemisphere  (north  of  the  equator). 
To  choose  a  southern  latitude  (south 
of  the  equator),  enter  a  negative 
number  from  —  1  to  —90.  Skyscape 
generally  represents  southerly  loca- 
tions with  negative  values. 

Whenever  Skyscape  asks  for 
information,  it  checks  your  entry  to 
make  sure  it's  in  the  acceptable 
range.  If  you  enter  an  illegal  value, 
the  program  displays  an  error  mes- 
sage and  gives  you  another  chance. 

The  Sun  And  Moon 

Though  very  different  in  size  and 
composition,  the  sun  and  moon  are 
alike  in  being  the  largest  celestial 
objects  visible  from  Earth.  After 
you   enter  the  date   and  latitude, 


Best  Dt  COMPUTE!  arKJ  Gazette     85 


Skyscape  displays  a  table  of  data 
for  the  sun  and  moon.  In  addition 
to  the  date,  day  of  the  year,  and 
latitude  north  or  south,  you'll  see 
the  following  information: 

•  Sun's  geocentric  angle.  This 
figure  represents  the  sun's  position 
as  a  number  of  degrees  relative  to 
the  vernal  equinox.  The  vernal  equi- 
nox is  where  the  sun  is  located  when 
spring  begins  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere (the  same  time  that  autumn 
begins  in  the  southern  hemisphere). 

•  Sun's  declination.  The  num- 
ber of  degrees  north  or  south  of  the 
equator.  Negative  values  indicate  a 
southerly  location. 

•  Sun's  altitude  at  noon.  The 
location  of  the  sun  in  degrees  from 
the  northern  or  southern  horizon  at 
noon. 

•  Sun's  right  ascension.  Just  as 
longitude  and  latitude  indicate  lo- 
cations on  the  Earth,  right  ascension 
and  declination  are  used  to  pinpoint 
locations  in  the  sky.  For  this  pur- 
pose the  sky  is  visualized  as  a  gi- 
gantic sphere  surrounding  the 
Earth.  Declination  locates  a  point 
vertically  in  the  celestial  sphere  and 
right  ascension  locates  it  horizon- 
tally. Right  ascension  values  are 
given  in  hours  and  minutes  in  the 
range  0:00-23:59.  Right  ascension 
0:00  is  exactly  at  the  vernal  equi- 
nox. Larger  right  ascension  values 
lie  to  the  east  of  smaller  ones. 

•  Right  ascension  at  9  p.m.  The 
right  ascension  which  would  be  on 
the  meridian  at  9  p.m.  This  coordi- 
nate system  would  be  found  on  star 
charts.  By  comparing  this  number 
with  those  charts,  you  can  tell  what 
stars  and  constellations  would  be 
visible  at  that  time. 

•  Moon's  age.  The  number  of 
days  since  the  last  new  moon. 

•  Moon's  elongation.  The  loca- 
tion of  the  moon  in  degrees  east  or 
west  of  the  sun. 

•  Moon's  phase.  The  phase  of 
the  moon  on  this  particular  day. 

The  Planet  Table 

After  viewing  the  sun  and  moon 
display,  press  P  to  continue  to  the 
next  display  screen,  which  contains 
the  planet  table.  (Press  D  if  you 
wish  to  enter  a  new  date.)  The  plan- 
et table  shows  vital  information 
about  the  visible  planets  (through 


Uranus,  which  is  at  the  limit  of  our 
visibility).  The  table  shows  the  po- 
sition of  each  planet  in  right  ascen- 
sion and  degrees  east  or  west  of  the 
sun.  It  also  shows  the  distance  of 
each  planet  from  Earth  in  millions 
of  miles. 

If  you'd  rather  see  the  distance 
in  kilometers,  modify  the  line  220 
program  to  change  the  value  of 
ES  =  93  to  ES  =  149.6. 

Some  planets  have  an  asterisk 
to  the  left  of  the  right  ascension 
figure.  This  signifies  that  they  are 
visible  at  9  o'clock  this  evening.  For 
reference,  the  planet  table  also  in- 
cludes the  sun's  present  right  as- 
cension and  its  right  ascension  at  9 
p.m.  Press  D  to  input  a  new  date  or 
S  to  view  a  graphics  display  of  the 
sky  at  any  time  in  the  current  day. 

The  Visible  Skyscape 

After  selecting  the  sky  display,  you 
must  enter  the  hour  when  you  wish 
to  view  the  sky.  The  hour  value 
should  be  a  whole  number  from 
0-23  (enter  22  for  10  p.m.,  etc.). 
You'll  also  need  to  enter  the  min- 
utes (0-59).  Skyscape  then  displays 
the  time  and  offers  you  a  chance  to 
enter  different  values.  Press  RE- 
TURN or  Enter  when  you're  satis- 
fied with  the  time. 

Skyscape  now  displays  the  sky 
as  it  would  appear  at  the  chosen 
latitude,  date,  and  time.  Since  the 
sky  looks  very  different  from  differ- 
ent places  on  Earth,  the  latitude 
affects  the  display  considerably.  If 
your  latitude  is  in  the  range  24-90 
degrees  north  or  south,  the  sky 
shows  a  dashed  line  representing 
the  position  of  the  celestial  equator, 
along  with  symbols  representing 
the  sun,  moon,  and  planets  visible 
at  that  time.  If  your  latitude  is  in  the 
tropical  region — from  23^2  degrees 
north  to  23y2  degrees  south — the 
dashed  line  indicates  a  position  di- 
rectly overhead. 

If  you're  viewing  in  the  north- 
em  hemisphere,  north  is  above  the 
dashed  line  and  south  is  below  it.  In 
the  southern  hemisphere  these  di- 
rections are  reversed.  Below  the  sky 
display  is  a  key  that  interprets  the 
symbols  used  to  represent  celestial 
objects.  If  more  than  one  object  is 
positioned  at  the  same  spot,  the 
symbols  are  displayed  above  each 
other. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  sky  you 


may  see  two-letter  abbreviations. 
These  represent  zodiac  constella- 
tions that  would  be  visible  from 
your  chosen  vantage  point.  Sky- 
scape uses  the  abbreviations  AR 
(Aries),  PI  (Pisces),  AQ  (Aquarius), 
CP  (Capricorn),  SA  (Sagittarius), 
SC  (Scorpio),  LI  (Libra),  VI  (Virgo), 
LE  (Leo),  CA  (Cancer),  GE  (Gemini) 
and  TA  (Taurus).  Each  constellation 
is  located  above  the  spot  where  its 
abbreviation  appears.  In  northern 
latitudes,  the  border  of  each  con- 
stellation's zone  begins  at  its  abbre- 
viation and  extends  left.  In 
southern  latitudes,  the  constella- 
tion extends  right  from  the  position 
of  its  abbreviation. 

Daytime  skies  are  shown  in 
blue  and  nighttime  skies  in  black. 
Skyscape  does  not  calculate  the  ac- 
tual rising  or  setting  time  of  the  sun. 
Average  rising  and  setting  times  of 
6  a.m.  and  6  p.m.  are  used  in  every 
case.  You  may  obtain  exact  rising 
and  setting  times  from  local  news- 
papers. However,  keep  in  mind  that 
there  is  usually  about  an  hour  of 
twilight  before  sunrise  and  after 
sunset. 

Halley's  Comet 

in  addition  to  permanent  objects, 
Skyscape's  graphics  display  in- 
cludes Halley's  Comet,  visible  dur- 
ing late  1985  and  eariy  1986.  If  you 
choose  a  date  from  November  1, 
1985  to  May  29,  1986,  Skyscape 
calculates  the  position  of  Halley's 
Comet  and  includes  it  in  the  graph- 
ics display  (if  it  would  be  visible  at 
the  place  and  time  you  select).  The 
comet's  position  is  based  on  the  best 
predictions  available  at  the  time  of 
this  writing  (summer  1985).  These 
positions  may  differ  slightly  from 
the  comet's  actual  position  when  it 
finally  makes  its  appearance. 

While  Skyscape  is  generally 
accurate,  it  bases  most  position  cal- 
culations on  circular  orbits.  This  in- 
troduces a  certain  element  of  error, 
since  no  object  in  our  solar  system 
has  a  perfectly  circular  orbit.  The 
position  error  is  most  pronounced 
for  Mercury  and  Mars  (whose  orbits 
are  quite  elliptical),  but  does  not 
significantly  affect  other  objects. 
I've  found  Skyscape  accurate  enough 
for  my  own  purposes,  which  in- 
clude planning  astronomy  classes 
and  planetarium  displays.  ® 


86    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Number 
Construction  Kit 


You've  got  the  tools,  materials,  and  a 
goal  in  this  construction  project.  All 
you  have  to  do  is  think  hard  and  work 
fast.  For  children,  an  excellent  pro- 
gram for  practicing  math  skills;  for 
adults,  a  real  brain  teaser. 


Your  bid  has  just  been  accepted  for 
a  new  construction  project — to 
build  a  three-digit  number  between 
100  and  999.  Fortunately  you  have 
your  number  construction  kit, 
which  includes  everything  you 
need  for  the  task.  Your  tools  are  the 
four  basic  arithmetic  operators:  +, 
— ,  *,  and  /.  Your  building  materials 
are  single  digit  integers,  three,  four, 
or  five  of  them,  depending  on  the 
level  of  play  you  choose.  And,  as 
with  all  construction  projects,  there 
is  a  deadline:  one,  two,  or  three 
minutes,  depending  on  your  level 
of  expertise. 

Getting  Started 

To  play,  load  the  program  and  type 
RUN.  First,  you're  asked  for  the 
number  of  players.  Press  1  or  2. 
Then  you're  asked  to  choose  one  of 
three  difficulty  levels:  1.  Beginner, 
2.  Intermediate,  or  3.  Advanced. 
Press  the  number  key  which  corre- 
sponds to  your  choice.  At  the  begin- 
ner level,  you're  given  five  numbers 
for  materials  and  three  minutes  to 
complete  the  construction  project. 
At  the  intermediate  level,  there  are 
four  numbers  to  build  with  and  two 
minutes  to  finish.  And,  if  you're  up 
to  it,  the  advanced  level  offers  only 
one  minute  and  three  numbers  to 
work  with. 

After  selecting  the  number  of 
players  and  a  difficulty  level,  you're 
ready  to  begin.  The  project  total 
(your  goal)  and  materials  (the  num- 


Gerald  W.  Rightmer 


bers  you're  given  to  work  with)  are 
presented  and  you're  prompted  to 
press  any  key  to  begin.  As  soon  as 
the  game  begins,  the  timer  starts 
counting  down.  First  select  one  of 
the  numbers  from  the  materials  list- 
ed. Then  choose  one  of  the  opera- 
tors: the  plus  or  minus  sign  (on  the 
top  row  of  the  keyboard),  the  mulh- 
plication  sign  (on  the  second  row 
beneath  the  minus  sign),  or  the  di- 
vision sign  {at  the  bottom  row  next 
to  the  right  SHIFT  key). 

Begin  building  toward  your 
project  goal  without  hesitation.  If 
you  reach  the  project  goal  before 
time  runs  out,  press  RETURN.  Each 
game  consists  of  five  rounds.  In  the 
two-player  game,  one  round  con- 
sists of  one  turn  for  each  player. 
After  five  rounds,  the  game  ends, 
and  you're  asked  if  you'd  like  to 
play  again.  At  this  point,  you  can 
change  the  number  of  players  and 
the  difficulty  level. 

Staying  In  Bounds 

Like  any  construction  project,  there 
are  constraints.  First,  there  are  only 
15  spaces  with  which  to  work.  This 
means  that  you  can  use  only  eight 
numbers  and  seven  operators  to 
complete  the  project.  You're  al- 
lowed to  move  across  the  computa- 
tion line  using  the  cursor  keys,  and 
change  numbers  or  operators  sim- 
ply by  typing  over  the  existing 
characters.  A  running  total  is  dis- 
played to  the  right  of  the  equation, 
allowing  you  to  instantly  monitor 
your  progress.  Since  the  target 
number  is  positive  and  greater  than 
100,  the  program  does  not  allow 
numbers  less  than  0  in  the  target 
number.  Also,  numbers  greater 
than  9,999  cannot  be  created  during 
the   construction   process.    Error 


messages  will  appear,  and  the  game 
will  pause  if  the  running  total  is 
greater  than  999  or  less  than  0. 

Scoring  is  based  on  how  close 
you  are  to  the  target,  the  difficulty 
level,  and  how  quickly  you  re- 
spond. If  your  total  at  the  point 
when  time  expires  is  greater  than 
200  from  the  proposed  project  total, 
then  no  score  is  awarded  for  the 
round.  A  round  is  terminated  either 
by  the  clock  or  by  pressing  the  RE- 
TURN key. 

The  program  randomly  gener- 
ates numbers  for  the  project  goal  and 
materials,  excluding  duplicates  and 
zeros.  The  only  keys  that  work  are 
the  designated  materials  (numbers) 
keys,  the  four  operators,  left  and 
right  cursor  keys,  DELete,  and  RE- 
TURN. The  DELete  key  deletes  only 
from  the  end  of  the  line  and  removes 
only  the  character  under  the  cursor. 
This  means  that  no  gaps  can  be  creat- 
ed in  the  middle  of  a  computation 
line  (this  would  result  in  a  meaning- 
less arithmetic  expression). 

Number  Construction  Kit  is  a 
challenge  to  any  age,  and  it  can  be 
an  entertaining  way  to  reinforce 
basic  arithmetic  skills  in  children. 
Since  immediate  feedback  is  given 
throughout  the  game,  a  child  can 
learn  much  by  trial  and  error. 

For  those  simply  looking  to  win 
the  game,  a  few  strategy  tips  might 
be  helpful.  The  first  step  is  to  study 
the  project  number  and  the  materi- 
als before  pressing  a  key  to  start 
construction.  For  larger,  more  diffi- 
cult numbers,  it's  usually  easier  to 
get  within  range  of  the  project  as  fast 
as  possible  and  to  fine  tune  your 
answer  with  the  remaining  time  and 
space.  Remember,  the  materials 
may  be  used  as  often  as  necessary — 
you  have  an  unlimited  supply.     © 


Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     87 


Home  Financial 
Calcuiator 


Patrick  Porrish,  Programming  Supervisor 


Many  home  budget  programs  have 
been  published  in  magazines,  but  rare- 
ly has  there  been  a  program  integrat- 
ing as  wide  a  variety  of  loan  and 
investment  calculations  as  "Home 
Financial  Calculator."  It  is  versatile, 
easy  to  use,  and  pexible.  Rapid  recal- 
culation features  make  it  an  ideal  tool 
for  "what  if"  projections.  A  calculator 
mode  with  memory  lets  you  solve 
problems  not  directly  supported  by  the 
program,  and  you  can  pass  values  gen- 
erated by  one  calculation  to  another. 


Investment  and  loan  calculations 
are  readily  computerized.  In  fact, 
many  programs  have  been  written 
which  perform  these  tasks  individ- 
ually. "Home  Financial  Calculator" 
goes  a  step  further  by  integrating 
several  common  financial  calcula- 
tions in  a  menu-driven  package.  It 
also  features  a  calculator  mode  or 
scratch  pad  area  where  program 
variables  can  be  manipulated  using 
common  mathematical  operations. 
When  you  run  the  program,  a 
main  menu  offers  you  a  choice  of 
Investment  or  Loan  calculations. 
Type  I  or  L  to  reach  the  appropriate 
submenu. 

Common  Variables 

Before  looking  at  any  calculations, 
let's  consider  some  basics  of  the 
program.  Home  Financial  Calcula- 
tor uses  some  parameters  or  vari- 


ables repeatedly  in  the  calculations. 
These  variables  are  Total  (also  re- 
ferred to  as  Future  Value,  Total 
Owed,  etc.,  depending  on  the  cal- 
culation); Present  Value  (principal); 
Interest  Rate;  Years;  Months;  Num- 
ber of  Periods  (of  either  compound- 
ing, deposits,  withdrawals,  or 
payments,  depending  on  the  appli- 
cation); Deposits;  and  Withdrawals. 
When  in  the  calculator  mode  (ex- 
plained below),  you'll  reference 
these  eight  variables  with  the  single 
letters  T,  P,  I,  Y,  M,  N,  D,  and  W. 

As  you  work  with  Home  Fi- 
nancial Calculator,  the  values  of  the 
eight  variables  are  preserved  until 
you  change  them.  Whenever  the 
program  asks  you  for  an  input  (for 
example.  Interest),  the  current  val- 
ue of  that  variable  is  displayed 
(zero  if  no  value  has  been  entered 
yet).  If  you  want  to  keep  the  current 
value,  just  press  RETURN.  Other- 
wise, enter  the  new  value  and  press 
RETURN. 

With  this  feature.  Home  Finan- 
cial Calculator  makes  it  easy  for  you 
to  generate  "what  if"  projections. 
Simply  run  the  same  calculation  re- 
peatedly, each  time  changing  a  pre- 
viously  entered  value.  Press 
RETURN  to  keep  a  value,  and 
change  only  one  or  two  values  to 
see  the  effect  on  the  final  result. 

You  can  also  store  the  current 
value  into  the  calculator  mode's 
Memory  Register  or  recall  a  value 
from  the  Memory  Register.  To  see 


how  all  this  works,  let's  take  a  look 
at  some  calculations  possible  with 
Home  Financial  Calculator. 

Investment  Calculations 

Here  is  the  Investment  submenu 
that  appears  when  you  type  1  from 
the  main  menu: 

1)  Future  Value  with  Periodic 
Interest 

2)  Future  Value  with  Interest 
Compounded  Continuously 

3)  Future  Value  with  Regular 
Deposits 

4)  Future  Value  with  Cash  Flows 

5)  Withdrawal  of  Funds 

6)  Net  Present  Value 

7)  Calculator  Mode 

8)  Return  to  Main  Menu. 

Determine  which  option  you 
want  and  press  the  appropriate  key. 

Each  option  displays  screen 
prompts  which  ask  you  to  input 
several  values.  These  values  are 
stored  in  the  eight  variables  men- 
tioned above:  T  for  Total  (Future 
Value),  P  for  Present  Value  (princi- 
pal), /  for  Interest  Rate,  Y  for  Years, 
M  for  Months,  N  for  Number  of 
Periods,  D  for  Deposits,  and  W  for 
Withdrawals.  Of  course,  not  all  cal- 
culations require  you  to  enter  all 
these  values,  while  others  may  ask 
for  additional  information. 

Most  calculations  can  be 
solved  for  any  one  of  the  variables. 
To  solve  for  a  variable,  enter  an 
uppercase  X  at  the  corresponding 
input  prompt.  For  example,  you 
could  enter  values  for  everything 


88     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


except  the  Interest  Rate,  typing  X  at 
the  Interest  Rate  prompt.  Home 
Financial  Calculator  then  solves  for 
the  Interest  Rate. 

Remember,  however,  that  the 
program  can  solve  for  only  one  vari- 
able during  each  calculation.  If  you 
enter  an  X  at  more  than  one 
prompt,  the  program  does  not  have 
enough  information  to  calculate  an 
answer.  Keep  this  in  mind,  because 
the  program  does  not  check  for  po- 
tential conflicts. 

Future  Value  With 
Periodic  Interest 

Home  Financial  Calculator's  op- 
tions are  fairly  self-explanatory 
when  you  run  the  program,  but 
let's  try  an  example.  We'll  calculate 
the  future  value  of  an  investment 
drawing  periodic  interest.  This  kind 
of  investment  could  be  a  savings 
account,  interest-bearing  checking 
account,  bonds,  or  a  money  market 
account.  Choose  this  option  by  en- 
tering 1  at  the  Investment  submenu. 

After  the  screen  clears,  the  pro- 
gram asks  for  the  first  input — Fu- 
ture Value,  which  appears  with  an 
asterisk  (*).  Below  this  is  a  zero  (the 
current  value  of  this  variable  in 
memory;  all  variables  start  out  with 
a  value  of  zero).  Following  this  is  an 
input  prompt. 

The  asterisk  preceding  Future 
Value  means  that  this  is  one  of  the 
variables  you  can  solve  for.  (A  vari- 
able not  preceded  by  an  asterisk 
means  that  variable  cannot  be 
solved  for  in  that  particular  calcula- 
tion, so  X  would  be  an  illegal  re- 
sponse.) If  you'd  like  to  calculate 
the  Future  Value,  enter  an  X  here, 
and  answer  all  the  other  prompts 
with  the  appropriate  values. 

Let's  calculate  the  future  value 
of  a  $1,000  investment  drawing  8 
percent  interest  for  two  years  and 
three  months,  with  four  com- 
pounding periods  each  year.  Enter 
an  X  for  Future  Value,  since  we'll  be 
solving  for  this  total.  Answer  Pre- 
sent Value  with  1000  (the  principal 
you're  investing);  Annual  Int  Rate 
(%)  with  8  (enter  the  percentage, 
not  a  fraction);  For  #  Of  Years  with 
2;  For  #  Of  Months  with  3;  and  #  Of 
Periods  (Compounding)  with  4.  After 
you  enter  the  last  value,  Home  Fi- 
nancial Calculator  figures  the  Total 
Future  Value  and  displays  the  an- 
swer—$1195.09. 


Now  suppose  you  wish  to 
know  the  future  value  of  the  same 
$1,000  investment  if  you  make  9 
percent  interest.  Choose  option  1 
on  the  Investment  submenu  again 
and  rerun  the  calculation.  Notice 
how  Home  Financial  Calculator 
automatically  prints  the  current 
value  of  each  variable  at  each 
prompt.  The  Future  Value  prompt 
shows  a  current  value  of  1195.09 
from  the  previous  calculation.  Type 
an  X  at  this  prompt,  9  for  Interest 
Rate,  and  RETURN  at  all  other 
prompts  to  preserve  their  values. 
The  result  should  be  $1221.71. 

The  versatility  of  Home  Finan- 
cial Calculator  becomes  apparent 
when  you  realize  how  many  differ- 
ent ways  you  can  run  this  calcula- 
tion. Using  this  same  menu  option, 
you  can  calculate  the  initial  invest- 
ment (or  present  value)  necessary 
to  accrue  a  certain  future  value  with 
periodic  interest;  the  interest  rate 
necessary  to  accrue  a  future  value 
from  a  present  value;  or  the  time  (in 
years  and  months)  it  would  take  to 
accumulate  a  future  amount  from 
an  initial  investment  with  periodic 
interest  payments.  Just  enter  an  X 
for  the  unknown  value  you're  seek- 
ing, and  fill  in  all  the  other  prompts. 

Future  Value  With 
Interest  Compounded 
Continuously 

Option  2,  a  variation  of  option  1, 
handles  investments  paying  a  con- 
tinuous interest  rate.  Like  option  1, 
option  2  can  handle  a  number  of 
calculations — just  place  an  X  in  the 
slot  you'd  like  to  solve  for. 

Here,  after  entering  all  other 
parameters,  you  can  calculate  the 
future  value  of  an  investment;  the 
initial  investment  required  to  reach 
a  certain  future  value;  the  interest 
required  to  reach  a  desired  future 
value;  or  the  time  required  to  reach 
a  certain  future  value  at  a  specified 
interest  rate. 

Notice  that  any  variables  used 
in  option  1  will  be  displayed  with 
their  current  values  when  running 
option  2.  As  mentioned  above,  the 
eight  major  variables  in  Home  Fi- 
nancial Calculator  retain  their  val- 
ues throughout  the  program  until 
you  change  them.  This  feature  is 
convenient  when  going  from  one 
option  to  another  on  the  Invest- 
ment or  Loan  submenus. 


In  addition,  the  values  are  pre 
served  for  use  in  the  calculator 
mode.  For  instance,  you  could  com- 
pare the  effect  of  continuously  com- 
pounded interest  to  periodic 
interest  (option  1)  without  having 
to  retype  the  input. 

Future  Value  Wltti 
Regular  Deposits 

If  you're  interested  in  setting  up  an 
annuity,  you'd  choose  option  3  on 
the  Investment  submenu.  You  can 
determine  the  future  value  of  an 
account  (such  as  a  savings  account. 
Individual  Retirement  Account, 
college  or  vacation  fund,  etc.)  with 
regular  deposits  where  interest  is 
compounded  with  each  deposit. 

Option  3  can  also  tell  you  the 
amount  of  each  deposit  necessary 
to  accrue  a  future  value;  the  interest 
rate  needed  to  provide  some  future 
value  with  regular  deposits;  or  the 
time  it  would  take  to  amass  a  future 
value  with  regular  deposits. 

Future  Value  Witti 
Cash  Flows 

option  4  does  a  single  calcula- 
tion— it  always  solves  for  Future 
Value,  so  don't  enter  an  X  any- 
where. It  calculates  the  future  value 
of  an  investment  with  yearly  cash 
flows  (either  positive  or  negative). 

The  Annual  Interest  Rate  you  input 
here  is  the  growth  rate  on  the  mon- 
ey you've  invested. 

As  an  example,  suppose  you 
wish  to  determine  the  value  of  a 
vacation  fund  collected  over  four 
years.  You're  asked  for  the  number 
of  years,  then  for  the  deposit  or 
withdrawal  each  year.  You  deposit 
$500  in  the  fund  the  first  year  and 
$200  the  second.  The  third  year  you 
are  forced  to  withdraw  $300  (en- 
tered as  —  300),  and  the  fourth  year, 
you  put  in  $400.  The  fund  has  a 
growth  rate  of  12  percent.  Its  value 
after  four  years  will  be  $1,017.34. 

A  future  value  determination 
can  also  tell  you  whether  an  invest- 
ment is  worthwhile.  If  the  future 
value  of  all  cash  flows  is  positive  or 
zero,  the  investment  is  profitable.  A 
negative  future  value,  on  the  other 
hand,  represents  a  losing  investment. 

Withdrawal  Of  Funds 

If  you  intend  to  open  an  account 
from  which  you  can  regularly  with- 
draw funds,  choose  option  5.  With 


Best  of  COfi/PUTEl  and  Gazette    89 


this  option,  you  can  determine  the 
initial  deposit  required  in  the  ac- 
count to  cover  your  withdrawals; 
the  amount  you  can  withdraw  reg- 
ularly from  this  account;  the  rate  of 
interest  you  must  make  on  funds  in 
the  account;  or  the  period  of  time 
over  which  you  can  make  with- 
drawals. 

Net  Present  Value 

Option  6  lets  you  determine  the 
feasibility  of  a  prospective  invest- 
ment by  calculating  its  net  present 
value.  Net  present  value  is  the  cur- 
rent value  of  all  future  yearly  cash 
flows  to  an  investment  along  with 
any  initial  cash  requirement.  The 
interest  rate  you  input  here  is  the 
rate  of  return  you  require  on  your 
investment.  A  positive  net  present 
value  indicates  a  profitable  invest- 
ment, while  a  negative  result  signi- 
fies a  losing  investment. 

As  an  example,  suppose  you 
have  the  opportunity  to  make  a 
$2,000  investment  which  would  re- 
turn $1,500  the  first  year,  cost  you 
$750  the  second  year,  and  return 
$1,900  the  third  year.  You  hope  to 
make  13  percent  on  your  money. 
With  option  6,  you  determine  a  net 
present  value  of  $56.87,  represent- 
ing a  profitable  investment. 

Ttie  Calculator  Mode 

option  7  puts  you  in  the  calculator 
mode  (also  available  from  the  Loan 
submenu).  Calculator  mode  works 
very  much  like  a  handheld  calcula- 
tor with  a  single  memory.  You  can 
type  in  a  value  or  recall  one  from  a 
variable  by  entering  its  symbol — 
T(otal),  P(resent  Value),  I(nterest 
Rate),  Y(ears),  M(onths),  N(umber 
of  Periods),  D(eposits),  and  W(ith- 
drawals).  You  can  perform  simple 
math  on  values  stored  in  the  Mem- 
ory Register  using  reverse  Polish 
notation.  And  you  can  use  the  re- 
sults in  future  calculations. 

When  you  enter  calculator 
mode,  the  calculator  command  line 
appears  on  the  screen: 

V  S  H  R  M-l-  M-  M*  M/  MR  MC 
MEM  =  0 

Here  are  the  commands: 

V  (View  the  values  of  the  eight 
primary  variables) 

S  (Store  Memory  Register  into  a 

variable) 
H  (Help — prints  the  command  line) 

R  (Return  to  main  menu,  exit  cal- 

culator mode) 


M+  (Add  the  last  input  to  the 

Memory  Register) 
M—  (Subtract  the  last  input  from  the 

value  in  the  Memory  Register, 

and  store  the  result  in  the 

Register) 
M*  (Multiply  the  last  input  times  the 

value  in  the  Memory  Register, 

and  store  the  result  in  the 

Register) 
M/  (Divide  the  last  input  into  the 

value  in  the  Memory  Register, 

and  store  the  result  in  the 

Register) 
MR  (Memory  Recall) 

MC  (Memory  Clear  to  zero) 

MEM"     (Memory  Register's  current 

value) 

If  you've  run  through  a  sample 
investment  calculation,  you  now 
have  some  variables  in  memory. 
Enter  V  in  the  calculator  mode  to 
see  them.  The  screen  displays  the 
eight  values  currently  in  memory 
for  the  eight  variables. 

To  work  with  one  of  these  vari- 
ables, enter  one  of  their  letters  (T,  P, 
I,  Y,  M,  N,  D,  or  W)  and  press 
RETURN.  Then  type  M-l-  to  add  it 
to  the  Memory  Register  (all  vari- 
ables must  be  stored  in  the  Register 
before  you  can  perform  any  opera- 
tions on  them).  Suppose  you  put 
the  current  value  for  T  into  the  Reg- 
ister and  now  wish  to  add  $229  to 
this  value.  Enter  229,  press  RE- 
TURN, then  type  M+  and  press 
RETURN.  The  addition  is  per- 
formed and  the  result  displayed.  To 
store  this  value  back  into  the  T  vari- 
able, enter  S  for  Store.  A  prompt 
appears,  requesting  the  variable  in 
which  you  intend  to  store  the  value. 
Type  T  to  store  the  value  into  the 
variable  T. 

You  can  also  use  the  Memory 
Register  to  hold  a  value  not  repre- 
sented by  any  of  the  eight  variables. 
To  do  this,  determine  a  value  using 
the  calculator  mode  and  store  it  into 
the  Memory  Register  with  M  +  . 
Then,  when  you're  running  a  calcu- 
lation elsewhere  in  the  program, 
you  can  substitute  this  value  for 
any  of  the  eight  primary  variables 
by  typing  MR  (Memory  Recall)  at 
the  appropriate  prompt.  MR  can  be 
used  both  in  the  calculator  mode 
and  at  any  prompt  where  the  previ- 
ous value  is  displayed. 

Finally,  option  8  on  the  Invest- 
ment submenu  returns  you  to  the 
main  menu.  Once  there,  you  can 
perform  some  loan  calculations  by 
typing  L. 


Loan  Calculations 

Here  is  the  Loan  calculations 
submenu: 

1)  Regular  Loan  Payments 

2)  Remaining  Loan  Liability 

3)  Final  Loan  Payment 

4)  Single  Payment  Loan 

5)  Loan  Amortization  Schedule 

6)  Calculator  Mode 

7)  Return  to  Main  Menu 

Regular  Loan  Payments 

Option  1  handles  a  number  of  cal- 
culations for  equal  payment  loans. 
You  can  figure  the  principal  of  a 
loan;  the  amount  of  each  regular 
payment  necessary  to  repay  a  loan; 
the  annual  interest  rate  on  a  loan 
with  regular  payments;  or  the  term 
of  the  loan. 

Remaining  Loan  Liability 

With  option  2,  you  can  determine 
the  remaining  balance  on  a  loan 
with  regular  payments  after  a  num- 
ber of  payments  have  been  made. 
Enter  the  principal  on  the  loan,  the 
amount  of  each  payment,  the  annu- 
al interest  rate,  the  number  of  pay- 
ments yearly,  and  the  last  payment 
number. 

Final  Loan  Payment 

option  3  calculates  the  amount  of 
the  final  payment  on  a  loan.  In 
many  cases,  the  last  payment  of  a 
loan  will  vary  from  the  amount  of 
the  regular  payment.  This  option 
handles  situations  where  the  final 
payment  is  greater  than  ("balloon 
payments")  or  less  than  the  regular 
payment. 

Single  Payment  Loan 

Option  4  calculates  the  amount 
owed  on  a  loan  that  is  paid  off  with 
a  single  payment.  You  must  input 
the  principal  on  the  loan,  its  annual 
interest  rate,  its  term  in  years  and 
months,  and  the  number  of  times  a 
year  the  interest  on  the  principal  is 
compounded. 

Loan  Amortization 
Schedule 

Option  5  displays  a  loan  amortiza- 
tion schedule.  Enter  the  principal 
on  the  loan,  the  amount  of  each 
payment,  the  annual  interest  rate, 
the  term  of  the  loan,  and  the  num- 
ber of  payments  yearly.  Then  enter 
the  period  of  the  year  in  which  the 
loan  began  (for  instance,  10  for  Oc- 
tober) and  the  range  in  years  of  the 


90    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


amortization  schedule  you'd  like  to 
examine. 

Because  of  the  complexity  of 
these  calculations,  there  may  be  a 
delay  before  the  output  appears  on 
the  screen,  especially  if  you  have 
chosen  to  look  at  the  latter  years  in 
a  long-term  loan  repayment  sched- 
ule (such  as  a  home  mortgage). 
When  the  amortization  table  ap- 
pears, it  displays  the  payment  num- 
ber, the  beginning  balance  for  the 
period,  the  amount  paid  toward  the 
loan  principal,  the  amount  paid  in 
interest,  and  the  ending  balance.  To 
keep  the  information  from  scrolling 
off  the  screen,  the  program  shows 
only  a  few  payment  periods  at  a 
time.  Press  RETURN  to  view  anoth- 
er screenful.  When  the  end  of  a  year 
is  reached,  the  program  gives  the 
total  amounts  paid  on  the  principal 
and  in  interest  for  the  year.  In  addi- 
tion, when  the  last  period  of  the 
loan  is  reached,  the  program  dis- 
plays the  final  payment  for  the  loan. 

The  last  two  options  on  the 
Loan  submenu  are  the  same  as 
those  on  the  Investment  submenu. 

Modifying  The  Program 

Home  Financial  Calculator  is  writ- 
ten in  a  modular  format  for  easy 
modification.  For  many  routines,  it 
uses  common  input  labels  (lines 
4710-5080)  and  some  output  labels 
(lines  5090-5170).  If  you  want  to 
add  an  investment  or  loan  calcula- 
tion routine,  choose  the  labels  from 
these  lines  that  fit  your  application. 
Also,  you  may  wish  to  add  a 
printer  option  to  the  loan  amortiza- 
tion schedule.  Examine  lines 
3230-3940.  Here,  variable  D5  (de- 
fined in  line  150)  determines  the 
number  of  loan  payments  consid- 
ered on  each  screen.  Variables  SI, 
S2,  S3,  and  S4  (defined  in  lines 
160-190)  format  the  output  hori- 
zontally on  the  screen.  ® 


Budget 
Planner 


Gregory  L.  Smith 


Managing  your  budget  doesn't  have 
to  be  a  chore  with  this  program.  It 
totals  your  income  and  bills  week  by 
week,  allowing  you  to  plan  your  ex- 
penses in  advance  and  make  adjust- 
ments for  special  occasions  like 
vacations  or  birthdays. 


Have  you  ever  wondered  if  you  can 
afford  additional  monthly  ex- 
penses— like  a  mortgage  or  addi- 
tional credit  cards?  Or  how  much 
"discretionary  income"  (money  left 
after  paying  bills)  you  might  have 
around  Christmastime?  I  used  to 
manage  all  the  details  in  my  head, 
but  usually  had  little  or  no  idea  as 
to  how  much  money  there  actually 
was  (or  where  it  all  went). 

"Budget  Planner"  is  a  mini- 
spreadsheet  written  in  BASIC.  It's 
designed  specifically  to  handle 
weekly  and  monthly  income/ex- 
penses for  an  entire  year.  Budget 
Planner  will  sum  a  column  (a  week 
of  income  and  expenses)  and  pre- 
sent a  total.  The  total  is  then  carried 
over  into  the  next  week  as  a  previ- 
ous balance. 

Commodore  128  owners 
should  modify  the  program  by 
changing  line  90  as  follows. 

90  FOR  1  =  1  TO  8:  READ  A:  KEYl, 
CHR${A):  NEXT:  DATA  133,137,134, 
138,135,139,136,140 

When  you  first  run  it.  Budget 
Planner  asks  for  a  filename  of  the 
information  to  be  loaded.  Once 
you've  set  up  your  yearly  finances, 
you  can  save  the  data  to  disk  or 


tape.  Since  you're  just  getting  start- 
ed, simply  press  RETURN  and 
you'll  be  prompted  for  the  date. 
This  is  the  date  you  want  to  start 
budgeting.  Enter  the  day  as  a  num- 
ber, the  month  as  a  three-character 
abbreviation,  and  the  year  as  a 
four-digit  value.  You're  not  re- 
quired to  use  the  beginning  of  the 
year.  You  may  start  in  the  middle  or 
at  the  end  if  you  like.  The  program 
is  even  smart  enough  to  handle 
leap  years. 

The  screen  then  displays  four 
columns  of  information.  The  first 
column  holds  the  labels  for  each 
row.  The  only  two  rows  available 
when  you  first  start  are  the  "PREV- 
BAL"  (previous  balance)  and 
"TOTAL." 

The  other  three  columns  are 
the  budget  data.  The  week  number 
is  shown  on  the  left  side.  The  date 
of  each  week  is  above  the  corre- 
sponding column.  When  you  use 
the  left/right  cursor  keys  to  scroll 
around  the  budget,  the  week  num- 
ber will  change. 

You  enter  income  and  ex- 
penses by  typing  the  amount 
(which  appears  on  line  2  of  the 
screen)  and  pressing  RETURN. 
Only  numbers  and  the  "  +  ",  "  — ", 
and  "."  keys  will  work  here.  Use 
the  delete  key  to  remove  the  last 
character  typed. 

The  arrow  keys  are  used  to 
move  the  reverse-video  cursor 
around  the  screen.  You  cannot  alter 
the  TOTAL  row  since  that  is  con- 
trolled by  the  computer.  You  can 
see  the  next  week  by  scrolling  off 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     91 


the  edge  of  the  screen.  This  is  al- 
lowed in  both  directions.  The  up/ 
down  arrow  keys  work  after  more 
expenses  have  been  added.  How- 
ever, you  cannot  scroll  vertically  as 
only  18  rows  (one  screenful)  are 
allowed. 

The  Function  Keys 

The  function  keys  trigger  the  vari- 
ous options.  Pressing  fl  causes  the 
help  menu  to  appear.  It  draws  a 
window  in  the  top  left  comer  of  the 
screen  with  a  reminder  as  to  which 
key  does  what. 

To  go  to  a  specific  week,  press 
f2.  You  may  jump  to  any  week  you 
like  by  entering  its  week  number 
(week  1  is  the  start  of  the  budget 
and  week  52  is  the  end.)  You  can 
also  do  a  "relative  jump"  by  using  a 
plus  or  minus  sign  (  —  3  means  go 
back  3  weeks  and  +3  means  go 
forward  3  weeks).  This  is  faster 
than  pressing  the  right-arrow  key 
many  times.  Also,  SHIFT-E  will 
jump  to  the  end  of  the  next  month. 
This  is  handy  since  most  of  us  pay 
bills  at  the  end  of  the  month. 

F3  is  the  LOAD  key.  You  may 
load  a  new  budget  (data  from  the 
disk)  at  any  time.  You'll  be  asked  to 
supply  a  filename.  If  you  pressed  f3 
accidentally,  just  press  RETURN  in 
response  to  the  filename  prompt. 
You'll  be  returned  to  your  original 
budget.  Likewise,  f4  (SHIFT-f3)  is 
the  SAVE  key.  You  might  want  to 
use  the  year  of  the  budget  as  the 
filename.  Again,  if  you  decide  not 
to  save  the  budget,  simply  press 
RETURN. 

To  add  a  new  row,  use  f5  (la- 
beled +  ROW  in  the  help  menu).  It 
inserts  a  row  below  the  cursor  for 
new  expenses  (or  new  income). 
You'll  be  prompted  for  a  name, 
which  can  be  up  to  ten  characters 
long.  As  with  the  other  options, 
pressing  RETURN  cancels  the  oper- 
ation. Once  a  name  has  been  as- 
signed, you  must  specify  whether  it 
is  a  source  of  income  (I)  or  an  ex- 
pense (E).  Pressing  any  key  other 
than  "I"  defaults  to  an  expense.  This 
is  important;  Every  value  you  enter 
in  this  field  will  be  negative  if  it  is  an 
expense  and  positive  if  it  is  income. 
(You  don't  need  to  place  a  minus 
sign  in  front  of  an  expense).  Like- 
wise, f6  deletes  the  row  the  cursor  is 
on.  You  must  verify  by  entering  YES 
(or  the  letter  Y)  when  asked.  If  you 


enter  anything  else,  you'll  be  re- 
turned to  the  current  budget. 

The  f7  key  causes  a  new  bal- 
ance to  be  computed.  Balances  are 
not  recalculated  after  each  new 
amount  is  entered.  Since  the  pro- 
gram is  written  in  BASIC,  it  takes 
several  seconds  to  recompute  the 
array  and  display  the  results.  This 
delay  would  be  annoying  if  the  pro- 
gram made  all  the  computations  ev- 
ery time  you  added  another  number. 

Pressing  f8  makes  the  results 
print  out.  (Be  sure  your  printer  is 
turned  on.)  You  may  specify  a 
range  of  months  to  print.  Pressing 
RETURN  in  response  to  the  FROM? 
prompt  returns  you  to  the  budget, 
without  printing.  Enter  a  valid  3- 
character  abbreviation  (JAN  or 
AUG,  for  example).  When  prompt- 
ed to  enter  TO?,  you  may  press  RE- 
TURN to  print  only  one  month.  To 
print  several  months,  use  the  appro- 
priate three-character  abbreviation. 

Special  Keys 

There  are  five  SHIFT  functions  in 
addition  to  the  function  keys.  One 
has  already  been  mentioned,  the 
SHIFT-E  key,  which  jumps  to  the 
end  of  the  next  month. 

SHIFT-D  switches  between 
showing  and  not  showing  the  deci- 
mals (pennies).  Budget  Planner  de- 
faults to  showing  the  decimals. 
(The  variable  DP  is  initialized  in 
line  1950.  Simply  change  it  to 
DP  =  0  to  change  the  default.) 
When  decimals  aren't  being  dis- 
played, you  see  the  rounded 
amount  on-screen. 

SHIFT-F  finds  the  next  nega- 
tive value  in  the  TOTAL  row.  If  you 
ever  "go  negative,"  the  TOTAL  val- 
ue and  the  offending  value  will  turn 
red.  In  such  a  case,  you  don't  have 
enough  income  to  cover  expenses 
and  it  may  be  necessary  to  juggle 
some  bills.  SHIFT-F  saves  you  from 
trying  to  find  these  trouble  spots 
manually. 

Use  SHIFT-M  to  flag  monthly 
expenses.  If  your  rent  is  $500,  for 
example,  you  would  type  in  500  in 
that  row  and  then,  instead  of  RE- 
TURN, press  SHIFT-M.  The  $500 
expense  will  be  added  to  the  end  of 
every  month.  Note  that  this  value  is 
placed  only  on  the  same  row  as  the 
cursor.  Also,  only  the  months 
AFTER  the  cursor  position  are  af- 
fected. (For  example,  if  you  are  on 


week  26,  only  weeks  26-52  are  af- 
fected. The  other  25  weeks  will  not 
be  changed.)  Naturally,  this  key 
works  for  income  as  well. 

SHIFT-W  is  the  weekly  ex- 
pense key  (groceries,  for  example). 
Pressing  it  places  the  line  2  value  in 
each  week  after  the  cursor  position. 
Again,  you  use  it  in  place  of  RE- 
TURN after  entering  a  value.  It 
works  much  like  the  monthly  ex- 
pense key  and  also  works  for  the 
income  fields. 

Press  SHIPT-T  if  you  use  a 
Datassette.  It  directs  data  storage 
and  retrieval  (f3  and  f4)  to  the  tape 
drive. 

The  SHIFT-Q  key  is  the  Disk 
Select  key.  It  causes  data  to  be 
saved  to  and  loaded  from  a  disk 
drive.  (Note:  Disk  is  the  default. 
Changing  DEV  =  8  to  DEV=1  in 
line  100  will  change  the  default  de- 
vice to  tape.)  © 


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92    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


Cataloger 


This  program  helps  you  organize  your 
disk  library  by  making  it  easy  to  find 
any  program  on  any  disk.  Included 
are  options  to  print  out  a  master  di- 
rectory and  alphabetically  sort  all 
filenames. 


After  owning  a  computer  and  disk 
drive  for  a  while,  it  doesn't  take 
long  before  you  find  yourself  inun- 
dated by  programs  and  disks.  No 
matter  how  well  your  disks  are  or- 
ganized, you  may  still  find  yourself 
loading  several  directories  search- 
ing for  that  one  program.  Cataloger 
offers  a  practical  solution.  It's  a 
straightforward,  menu-based  pro- 
gram that  creates  a  master  directory 
for  all  your  disk-based  programs. 
Several  extra  features  make  it  espe- 
cially useful. 

Managing  Hundreds 
Of  Files 

Cataloger  is  written  entirely  in 
BASIC  and  runs  on  the  128  (either 
64  or  128  mode),  64,  Plus/4,  and 
Commodore  16.  As  listed,  Catalog- 
er can  handle  up  to  800  filenames. 
If  you're  using  a  1 28  in  1 28  mode,  it 
can  handle  up  to  2000  filenames. 
To  change  the  number  of  filenames 
for  either  of  the  128,  replace  the  800 
in  lines  10,  370,  and  920  with  the 
2000.) 

To  use  the  program,  type  RUN. 
A  menu  of  nine  choices  is 
displayed: 

1.  CATALOG  A  SET  OF  DISKS 

2.  SEE  ALL  FILE  NAMES 

3.  PRINT  ALL  FILE  NAMES 

4.  SORT  NAMES  ALPHABETI- 
CALLY 


Kevin  Mykytyn 

5.  CREATE  A  SEQUENTIAL  FILE 

6.  CREATE  A  PROGRAM  FILE 

7.  LOAD  AN  OLD  FILE 

8.  DELETE  A  DISK 

9.  START  NEW  FILE 

If  you're  using  the  program  for 
the  first  time,  choose  option  1,  Cat- 
alog A  Set  Of  Disks.  You'll  then  be 
asked  for  a  disk  name  up  to  16 
characters  long.  This  should  be  the 
name  on  the  label  of  the  disk  you 
wish  to  catalog.  Put  the  disk  in  the 
drive  and  press  RETURN.  The  di- 
rectory of  the  disk  is  displayed  on 
the  screen  and  the  filenames  are 
entered  into  the  master  directory. 
Next,  you're  asked  whether  you 
want  to  continue  or  quit.  If  you 
have  more  disks  to  catalog,  press 
any  key.  Otherwise,  type  Q  to  go 
back  to  the  main  menu. 

After  entering  all  the  disks  you 
wish  to  catalog,  you  can  view  the 
master  directory.  Option  2,  See  All 
File  Names,  displays  the  master  di- 
rectory on  the  screen.  You  can  also 
print  it  out  on  any  Commodore 
printer  using  option  3.  Make  sure 
the  printer  is  turned  on  before  you 
choose  this  option. 

The  filenames  are  stored  in  a 
format  slightly  different  from  a 
standard  disk  directory.  The  file- 
name is  followed  by  the  number  of 
blocks  used  then  the  disk  name. 

Once  you've  viewed  the  direc- 
tory, use  option  5,  Create  A  Se- 
quential File,  to  save  it.  Choose  this 
option  if  you  wish  to  make  changes 
later  to  the  master  directory.  (The 
READ  command  of  "MetaBASIC" 
or  "BASIC  Aid"  allows  you  to  view 
the  master  directory  in  this  format.) 

Option  6  also  saves  your  mas- 
ter directory  to  disk,  but  instead  of 


creating  a  sequential  file,  it  creates  a 
program  beginning  at  line  100. 
Whenever  you  wish  to  view  the 
master  directory,  you  can  load  the 
program  created.  (With  the  FIND 
command  of  "MetaBASIC"  or 
"BASIC  Aid,"  you  can  search  the 
directory  for  a  specific  program.) 

Adding,  Deieting, 
And  Sorting 

At  some  point  you'll  want  to  add  or 
delete  disks  from  your  master  direc- 
tory. Options  7  and  8  are  used  for 
this  purpose.  Option  7  is  used  to 
load  any  directory  stored  in  sequen- 
tial file  format  (with  option  5).  After 
loading  a  file,  you  can  choose  op- 
tion 1  and  all  new  filenames  will  be 
appended  to  the  old  directory. 
Make  sure  you  save  your  changes 
to  disk  when  you're  through. 

To  delete  a  disk  from  the  mas- 
ter directory,  choose  option  8.  In 
order  for  this  option  to  work  cor- 
rectly, the  directory  must  be  unsort- 
ed.  If  you  wish  to  have  a  sorted 
master  directory  on  disk,  you 
should  first  save  it  unsorted. 

The  delete  option  removes  all 
filenames  from  the  disk  name  spec- 
ified. Therefore  it's  important  that 
all  disks  have  a  unique  name.  If 
you've  made  changes  to  a  disk  and 
wish  to  enter  the  changes  in  the 
master  directory,  use  option  8  to 
delete  that  disk,  then  use  option  1 
to  enter  the  newer  disk  version. 

You'll  find  it  easier  to  locate  a 
specific  file  if  the  master  directory 
has  been  sorted.  Once  the  file  has 
been  saved  in  sequential  file  for- 
mat, use  option  4  to  sort  the  names. 

To  delete  the  directory  in 
memory  and  start  a  new  directory, 
use  option  9.  0 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     93 


Mini-Filer 


This  flexible  file  manager  for  the 
Commodore  64  and  128  (in  64  mode) 
is  fast  and  easy  to  use.  Single  key 
commands  allow  you  to  create,  add, 
edit,  search,  load,  save,  and  print  out. 
A  disk  drive 
is  required. 


Databases  are  powerful  tools  for 
many  applications.  They  can  man- 
age any  information  you  need  to 
store  and  retrieve.  "Mini-Filer," 
while  not  a  full-featured  database, 
allows  you  to  easily  create  and 
manage  any  number  of  files  by  pro- 
viding various  single-key  com- 
mands for  creating,  adding,  editing, 
searching,  and  printing  out. 

Because  Mini-Filer  is  a  general- 
purpose  file  manager,  it  can  be  used 
for  many  applications.  It's  not  de- 
signed to  fulfill  a  specific  purpose, 
so  it's  general  enough  to  handle 
many  different  types  of  files.  For 
example,  you  could  create  a  name 
and  address  file  (name,  street,  city, 
state,  zip  code,  and  phone  number), 
a  file  for  your  garden  (plant  name, 
gestation,  watering/feeding  needs, 
and  harvest  time),  and  a  file  for 
your  library  (title,  author,  publica- 
tion date,  publisher,  and  subject). 

Each  grouping  of  information 
within  a  file  is  a  record.  For  ex- 
ample, "John  Doe,  123  Main  Street, 
Anywhere,  USA  11111,  888-999- 
9999)"  could  be  one  record  within 
an  address  file.  When  you  enter  a 
new  name,  address,  and  so  on, 
you're  adding  another  record.  In 
Mini-Filer,  there's  no  restriction  to 
the  number  of  records  (outside  of 
the  normal  limitations  of  computer 
memory  and  disk  space),  but  exer- 
cise common  sense  when  creating  a 
file.   Remember,   the  longer  your 


Kevin  Martin 


file,  the  longer  the  search  time  to 
find  a  record.  And  if  the  record  size 
is  fairly  small,  you'll  be  able  to  fit 
more  records  into  available  memory. 

Finally,  each  record  contains 
one  or  more  fields.  In  the  examples 
above,  name,  street,  and  city  are 
fields  within  the  address  file,  and 
author  and  publisher  are  fields  in 
the  library  file.  The  fields  can  be 
alphanumeric,  meaning  any  charac- 
ters are  allowed,  or  numeric,  con- 
taining numbers  only. 

Think  of  the  structure  as  a  reci- 
pe card  box.  The  entire  collection  of 
cards  is  the  file.  Each  card  is  a  re- 
cord inside  the  file.  And  each  line 
on  the  card  is  a  field. 

If  you  see  how  all  this  infor- 
mation is  organized,  you  can  see 
how  useful  a  file  manager  like 
Mini-Filer  can  be.  There  are  a  mul- 
titude of  applications.  Aside  from 
those  noted  above,  you  can  create  a 
file  for  home  inventory,  collections 
(cards,  coins,  stamps,  record  al- 
bums, and  so  on),  gifts,  recipes, 
Christmas  cards,  and  mailing  la- 
bels, to  name  a  few. 

A  Few  Steps 

Using  Mini-Filer  requires  three 
basic  steps:  create  a  file  structure, 
enter  records,  and  save  these  re- 
cords to  disk  for  later  use.  Mini- 
Filer  also  allows  you  to  print  out  a 
single  record  or  an  entire  file  at  the 
stroke  of  a  single  key.  A  printer  is 
not  required  for  use  with  the  pro- 
gram, however. 

To  load  and  run  Mini-Filer,  type 
L0AD"MINI-nLER",8  and  RUN. 

Creafing  A  File 

After  running  Mini-Filer,  you'll  see 
a  gray  screen  with  a  command  line 
at  the  top  which  includes  a  series  of 


letters,  each  of  which  represents  a 
command:  A  (add  or  enter),  C  (cre- 
ate), F  (find),  P  {print  a  record),  R 
(print  a  file),  f7  (load  a  file  from 
disk),  f8  (save  a  file  to  disk),  CLR 
(clear  data  from  memory),  up  (cur- 
sor up),  and  down  (cursor  down). 
For  a  complete  list  with  more  de- 
tailed explanations,  see  the  Mini- 
Filer  Commands  chart  elsewhere  in 
this  article. 

To  get  started,  press  C  to  create 
a  file.  You'll  nofice  that  the  com- 
mand line  has  changed  to  read 
"CREATE:  Enter  record  format,  fl  to 
exit."  (If  you  have  a  file  already  in 
memory,  this  option  is  not  allowed.) 
You'll  notice  the  cursor  at  the  top 
left  comer  of  the  screen,  beneath  the 
command  line.  Think  of  the  screen 
as  a  blank  file  card  on  which  you  can 
write  anywhere.  Using  the  cursor 
keys,  move  the  cursor  to  where  you 
wish  to  begin.  Any  location  on  the 
screen  is  acceptable,  but  note  that 
each  record  is  restricted  to  one 
screen  of  information. 

First  type  a  label  that  describes 
the  information  in  the  field  that  will 
follow.  Detemune  the  maximum 
number  of  characters  you'll  need 
(up  to  128  characters  per  field).  For 
example,  in  creating  a  name  and 
address  file,  you  might  type 
"Name:"  and  decide  that  18  charac- 
ters would  be  enough  for  even  the 
longest  name  you'd  enter.  Next, 
press  SHIFT  and  the  space  bar  to 
allocate  the  number  of  spaces  for  the 
field  length.  In  our  example,  you 
would  hold  down  the  SHIFT  key 
and  press  the  space  bar  18  times. 

If  you've  made  any  typing  er- 
rors, use  the  INSerT/DELete  key  to 
edit.  Press  RETURN  when  you've 
finished  defining  the  length  of  a 
field.  (In  our  example,  press  RE- 


94     Best  o(  COMPUTEI  and  Gazer 


TURN  after  the  eighteenth  space 
has  been  entered.)  The  cursor  will 
then  jump  to  the  beginning  of  the 
line  below.  Next,  move  the  cursor 
to  where  you  want  to  type  the  name 
of  the  next  field  label.  Repeat  the 
procedure  just  described  until 
you've  completed  a  record. 

If  you  plan  to  use  a  numeric 
field  {like  a  phone  number  or  zip 
code),  press  the  Commodore  key 
and  the  space  bar  rather  than  a  shift- 
ed space.  (A  numeric  field  appears 
as  reverse  periods;  an  alphanumeric 
field — letters  and/or  numbers — 
appears  as  reverse  spaces.) 

The  command  line  at  the  top  of 
the  screen  reminds  you  to  press  fl 
to  exit  the  format  creation  mode. 
Now  you're  ready  to  enter  data. 
The  original  command  line  will  re- 
appear. Press  A  (for  adding  or  edit- 
ing a  record).  This  puts  you  in  Add 
mode.  You'll  see  "ADD  Record" 
appear  in  the  command  line,  and 
the  cursor  will  immediately  go  to 
the  first  space  in  the  first  field 
you've  defined. 

Now  begin  entering  infor- 
mation. After  typing  in  the  data  for 
one  field,  press  RETURN.  The  cur- 
sor will  automatically  jump  to  the 
first  space  in  the  next  field.  If  you 
reach  the  last  available  space  in  the 
field  and  type  a  character,  the  cur- 
sor will  jump  to  the  first  space  in 
the  next  field.  The  INSerT/DELete 
key  may  be  used  in  case  of  typing 
errors.  If  you've  defined  a  field  as 
numeric  only  (appearing  as  reverse 
periods),  it  will  accept  only  numeric 
characters. 

Continue  entering  information 
until  all  fields  in  the  record  have 
been  entered.  Pressing  RETURN 
when  you're  at  the  last  character  of 
the  last  field  will  return  the  cursor 
to  the  first  character  of  the  first 
field.  At  this  point,  you  should 
proofread  the  record  just  entered.  If 
you've  discovered  a  typing  error, 
press  RETURN  until  you're  at  the 
beginning  of  the  field  that  contains 
an  error  and  move  to  the  unwanted 
character  with  the  cursor-right  key. 
After  making  the  correction,  press 
RETURN. 

To  proceed  to  the  next  record, 
press  i7.  You'll  see  the  formatted 
fields  with  the  cursor  in  the  first 
position  of  the  first  field.  After  com- 
pleting the  record,  you  can  proceed 
to  enter  another  by  pressing  (7,  or 


you  may  exit  the  Add  mode  by 
pressing  fl.  The  latter  choice  will 
return  the  original  command  line. 
At  this  point,  you  can  move 
through  all  records  by  pressing  the 
cursor-up  key  to  read  the  previous 
record,  or  the  cursor-down  key  to 
move  to  the  next  record.  When  the 
screen  shows  the  format  field — the 
fields  with  no  entries — you're  at 
the  last  position  in  the  file.  At  this 
point,  if  you  wish  to  enter  a  new 
record,  press  A  and  type  in  new 
data.  If  you  wish  to  edit  a  record, 
press  A  while  the  record  you  wish 
to  edit  is  on  the  screen. 

Searching  For  Data 

To  search  for  any  information, 
press  F  (for  Find).  You're  then 
prompted  to  enter  the  characters 
you  wish  to  search  for.  After  enter- 
ing them,  press  RETURN.  Mini- 
Filer  will  instantly  find  the 
requested  information  and  display 
the  record  which  contains  it.  The 
original  command  line  is  then  re- 
turned. To  search  for  any  subse- 
quent occurrences,  press  SHIFT -F. 
The  search  will  continue  from  the 
next  record,  and  so  on. 

If  the  information  requested  is 
not  in  the  file,  the  command  line 
will  display  "Not  Found."  (When 
searching,  be  sure  to  enter  the  word 
you're  looking  for  with  the  exact 
spelling,  including  capital  and  low- 
ercase letters — "Spanish"  will  not 
be  found  if  you  enter  "Spanish.") 
Also,  Mini-Filer  will  find  a  string  of 
data  within  a  field.  For  example,  if 
you're  searching  for  an  area  code — 
which  is  a  porhon  of  the  phone 
number  field — you  would  type  the 
three-digit  code  and  Mini-Filer  will 
find  it. 


Saving  And  Loading 

From  the  main  command  line,  you 
can  load  or  save  a  file  at  any  time. 
To  save  a  file,  press  f8.  You'll  be 
prompted  for  a  filename.  After  typ- 
ing one  in,  press  RETURN  and  the 
file  will  be  saved  to  disk  as  a  pro- 
gram file  with  the  name  you 
specified. 

To  load  a  file  from  disk,  press 
(7.  You'll  be  prompted  for  a  file- 
name. After  entering  one,  press  RE- 
TURN and  Mini-Filer  will  load  the 
file  from  disk.  After  the  file  has 
loaded,  the  first  record  in  the  file 
will  be  displayed.  Press  any  key  to 
get  the  main  command  line. 

Should  you  mistakenly  press 
i7  or  f8  and  get  a  LOAD  or  SAVE 
prompt,  press  RETURN  to  get  back 
to  the  main  command  line. 

Printing  Options 

To  print  the  current  record,  the  one 
displayed,  press  P.  This  prints  only 
the  current  record.  To  print  the  en- 
tire file,  press  R  (for  Report).  The 
printed  characters  will  appear  just 
as  they  do  on  the  screen. 

Erasing  A  Fiie 

At  some  point,  you  may  wish  to 
erase  the  data  in  a  file  from  memory 
and  start  over.  To  do  this,  press 
CLR  (SHIFT-CLR/HOME).  You're 
asked  "Are  You  Sure?"  Press  Y  if 
you  wish  to  erase  it  or  N  if  you'd 
rather  reconsider.  CLR  is  also  use- 
ful if  you  plan  to  work  with  more 
than  one  file  in  a  single  sitting.  You 
create  the  first,  save  to  disk,  and 
then  press  CLR.  You  can  now  load 
(or  create)  the  second  file. 


Mini-Filer  Commands 


A 
C 

F 

SHIFT-F 

P 

R 

f7 

fS 

CLR 

up  (cursor  key) 

down  (cursor  key) 


add  or  edit  data 

create  a  database  file 

find  a  field  (any  string  of  characters) 

continue  searching  for  next  occurrence  (may  be  used  only  after  F) 

print  the  record  displayed 

print  the  file 

add  a  record  (in  Add  mode);  load  a  file  from  disk  (from  main 

command  line) 

save  a  file  to  disk 

clear  all  file  data  from  memory 

move  the  cursor  up  (from  Create  mode)  or  move  to  the  previous 

record  (ft-om  main  command  line) 

move  the  cursor  down  (from  Create  mode)  or  move  to  the  next 

record  {from  main  command  line) 


o 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette    95 


MetaBASIC  64 


This  utility  will  change  the  way  you 
program.  It  adds  32  new  debugging 
and  testing  commands  to  Commodore 
64  BASIC,  working  by  itself  or  in 
conjunction  with  a  machine  language 
monitor /assembler. 


An  Introduction  To 
MetaBASIC  64 

"MetaBASIC  64"  commands  use 
English  mnemonics,  so  you  don't 
have  to  memorize  a  lot  of  SYS  num- 
bers. And  if  you  forget  the  new 
words,  you  can  either  refer  back  to 
this  article  or  type  HELP. 

BASIC  programmers  have  12 
new  commands  at  their  fingertips. 
For  writing  programs,  AUTO,  KEY, 
and  UNNEW  are  available.  You  can 
use  CHANGE,  DELETE,  FIND, 
RENUM,  and  VCHANGE  to  exam- 
ine and  alter  programs.  And 
DUMP,  SPEED,  TRACE,  and 
TROFF  help  during  debugging  ses- 
sions. If  you're  writing  in  machine 
language,  you  can  use  some  of  the 
BASIC  problem  solvers,  as  well  as 
MEMORY,  MONITOR,  NUMBER, 
and  @.  To  control  MetaBASIC  64, 
you  have  DEFAULT,  HELP,  INT, 
and  QUIT.  Disk  commands  include 
BSAVE,  CAT,  DLIST,  ERR, 
MERGE,  READ,  RESAVE, 
SCRATCH,  SEND,  and  START.  Fi- 
nally, there's  LLIST  if  you  have  a 
printer,  and  TERMINAL  if  you 
have  a  modem. 

Special  Notes 

Always  type  NEW  after  loading 
MetaBASIC  64.  One  feature  that 


Kevin  Mykytyn 

works  automatically  is  LIST  Pause. 
When  you're  listing  a  program, 
hold  down  CTRL,  SHIFT,  or  the 
Commodore  key  to  temporarily 
halt  it.  RUN/STOP-RESTORE  is 
available  in  both  program  mode 
and  direct  mode.  But  if  you  want  to 
interrupt  any  of  the  utilities  like 
RENUM,  use  the  RUN/STOP  key 
by  itself  (not  RUN/STOP- 
RESTORE). 

The  commands  work  only  in 
direct  mode;  you  cannot  add  them 
to  programs.  Also,  you're  limited  to 
one  MetaBASIC  command  per  line 
(although  you  can  still  use  multi- 
statement  lines  inside  your  pro- 
grams). Unlike  ordinary  BASIC 
commands,  there  are  no  abbrevia- 
tions. You  must  type  out  the  entire 
MetaBASIC  64  command.  If  it 
seems  to  be  working  incorrectly, 
make  sure  the  syntax  is  correct. 

Machine  language  (ML)  pro- 
grammers should  remember  that 
MetaBASIC  64  occupies  memory 
locations  $9000-$9FFF.  The  4K 
which  begins  at  $C000  is  available 
for  programs  like  Micromon  or  for 
your  own  ML  programs.  Be  sure  to 
load  and  run  MetaBASIC  64  before 
loading  any  other  programs. 

Using  MetaBASIC  64 

To  use  MetaBASIC  64,  follow  these 
steps: 

1 .  Load  the  program  with  the  com- 
mand  LOAD"METABASIC 
64",8,1. 

2.  Type  NEW 

3.  Activate  the  program  with  SYS 
36864  (or  SYS  9*4096) 


The  program  uses  4K  at  the  top 
of  BASIC  memory  (which  leaves 
you  with  35K  for  your  programs). 
The  first  thing  it  does  is  move  the 
top-of-BASIC  pointer  down  to  pro- 
tect itself  from  variables.  After  the 
SYS,  it  may  seem  that  nothing  has 
changed.  But  MetaBASIC  64  is  ac- 
tive, and  you  now  have  32  new 
commands  to  help  you  write  and 
debug  programs. 

MetaBASIC  64  Commands 

Here's  an  alphabetical  list  of  the  new 
commands  and  how  to  use  them,  with 
examples.  In  the  descriptions  of  syntax, 
MetaBASIC  64  commands  and  manda- 
tory parameters  appear  in  boldface. 
String  parameters  appear  in  italics.  Op- 
tional parameters  appear  in  normal 
printing. 

If  something  is  described  as  a  disk 
command,  it  won't  work  unless  you 
have  a  disk  drive.  However,  some  of 
the  ML  programming  aids  can  be  useful 
in  BASIC  and  vice  versa. 

@ 

Use:    ML   programming   (see   also 

MEMORY) 

Syntax:  @  starting  address,  number, 

number 

This  works  like  POKE,  except  it  allows 
you  to  put  a  series  of  numbers  into 
consecutive  memory  locations.  For  ex- 
ample, if  you  want  to  change  border 
and  background  colors  to  white,  you 
would  use  @53280,1,1.  The  first  1  goes 
into  53280,  the  second  into  53281.  If 
you  add  more  numbers,  separated  by 
commas,  they  are  POKEd  into  the  next 
locations:  53282,  53283,  and  so  on. 

You  can  also  use  this  in  conjunc- 
tion with  MEMORY.  First,  display  the 
contents  of  a  series  of  locations  using 
MEMORY.    Then    change    the    infor- 


96    Best  of  COMPUTE!  ond  Gazette 


mation  there  by  putting  @  before  each 
line  you  want  to  change.  Cursor  over  to 
the  numbers  you  want  to  change, 
change  them,  and  press  RETURN. 

AUTO 

Use:  BASIC  programming 

Syntax;  AUTO  starting  line  number, 

increment 

AUTO  can  take  some  of  the  drudgery 
out  of  writing  a  program.  It  automati- 
cally numbers  a  program,  starting  at  the 
first  number  and  incrementing  by  the 
second.  Separate  the  numbers  with  a 
comma.  If  you  do  not  specify  a  starting 
line  number  or  increment,  numbering 
will  start  at  5  and  increment  by  5  for 
each  additional  line.  If  you  specify  only 
a  starting  line  number,  then  that  value 
will  also  be  used  for  the  increment. 
After  you  press  RETURN  over  a  line, 
the  next  number  is  automatically  print- 
ed. The  current  line  number  can  be 
changed  by  using  the  INST/DEL  (de- 
lete) key  and  replacing  it  with  another 
number. 

Press  RUN/STOP  to  escape  from 
AUTO. 

Example:  AUTO  100,10  starts  at 
100  and  numbers  by  10. 

BSAVE 

Use:  disk  command  (see  also  RESAVE) 
Syntax:  BSAVE  "filenam^',  starting 
address,  ending  address  +  1 

BSAVE  (Binary  SAVE)  saves  a  chunk  of 
memory  to  disk,  from  the  starting  ad- 
dress to  the  ending  address.  Put  the 
program  name  inside  quotation  marks 
and  use  commas  to  separate  the  name, 
starting  address,  and  ending  address.  It's 
important  that  you  add  one  to  the  actual 
ending  address.  You  can  use  this  com- 
mand to  make  backups  of  machine  lan- 
guage programs,  as  long  as  you  know 
the  starling  and  ending  addresses. 
BSAVE  can  also  function  to  save  sec- 
tions of  screen  memory,  custom  charac- 
ter sets,  or  high-resolution  screens. 

The  numbers  should  be  in  decimal. 
If  you  need  to  translate  from  hexadeci- 
mal to  decimal,  see  NUMBER  (below). 

After  you  BSAVE  the  contents  of 
an  area  of  memory  to  disk,  you  can  load 
the  data  back  in  with  LOAD  "fUe- 
name",%,\. 

Example:  BSAVE  "ME  TAB  ASIC 
64",36864,40805  makes  a  backup  of  Me- 
taBASIC  64.  To  copy  the  first  five  lines 
of  screen  memory  (locations 
1024-1223)  to  disk,  BSAVE 
"SCREEN",1024,1224.  Screen  memory 
does  not  include  color  information — 
that  is  stored  in  color  memory  and 
would  have  to  be  handled  separately. 
CAT 

Use:  disk  command  (see  also  DLIST, 
READ) 
Syntax:  CAT 
Anytime  you  want  to  look  at  the  entire 


disk  directory,  use  CAT  (for  CATalog). 
The  BASIC  program  currently  in  mem- 
ory will  remain  undisturbed.  To  see 
specific  portions  of  the  directory,  see 
DLIST. 

CHANGE 

Use:    BASIC    programming   (see   also 
FIND,  VCHANGE) 
Syntax:  CHANGE  @old  string@new 
string@,  starting  hne,  ending  line 

CHANGE  @"old  string- 
"@"new  string"@,  starting  line,  end- 
ing line 

CHANGE  searches  through  the  pro- 
gram in  memory,  changing  every  oc- 
currence of  the  old  string  to  the  new 
one.  The  strings  can  be  up  to  30  charac- 
ters long,  and  must  be  bracketed  by  the 
commercial  at  sign  (@).  All  lines  in 
which  changes  are  made  are  listed  to 
the  screen. 

The  first  format  will  change  BASIC 
keywords  and  variable  names.  The  sec- 
ond format  should  be  used  to  change 
strings.  If  you  omit  the  line  numbers, 
CHANGE  affects  the  whole  program.  If 
you  want  to  change  only  one  section, 
add  the  starting  and  ending  line  num- 
bers, marked  off  by  commas. 

Example:  CHANGE  @X@QQ@, 
1,200  changes  the  variable  X  to  QQ  in 
lines  1-200.  To  change  the  name 
Charles  to  John  throughout  the  pro- 
gram, CHANGE  @"CHARLES"@ 
'70HN"@. 

DEFAULT 

Use:  MetaBASIC  64  command  (see  also 
INT,  QUIT) 

Syntax:  DEFAULT  border  color,  back- 
ground color,  text  color,  device  number 

When  you  press  RUN/STOP-RE- 
STORE, the  screen  always  reverts  to  the 
default  colors  of  light  blue  characters  on 
a  dark  blue  screen.  And  several  com- 
mands like  LOAD  and  SAVE  default  to 
tape.  DEFAULT  lets  you  change  these 
values  to  whatever  you  prefer. 

If  you  have  a  disk  drive,  you  can 
change  the  device  number  to  8.  If  you 
have  a  second  drive  addressed  as  de- 
vice 9  that  you  want  to  use  for  SAVEs, 
change  the  default  to  9.  If  your  64  is 
hooked  up  to  a  black-and-white  TV, 
change  the  character  and  background 
colors  to  a  more  readable  combination. 

Note:  If  you  change  the  default 
device  number  to  1  (tape),  you  will  be 
unable  to  use  any  of  the  new  MetaBA- 
SIC disk  commands.  To  disable  the  DE- 
FAULT device  number  setting  and  go 
back  to  normal,  use  the  MONITOR 
command  below.  Also,  the  TERMINAL 
command  will  not  operate  properly 
after  DEFAULT  has  been  used  to 
change  the  device  number.  If  you  use 
DEFAULT,  be  sure  to  issue  a  MONI- 
TOR command  before  trying  to  use  the 
TERMINAL  command. 


Example:    DEFAULT    1,1,0,8 

changes  the  border  and  background 
colors  to  white,  the  character  color  to 
black,  and  the  device  number  to  8.  If 
you  press  RUN/STOP-RESTORE, 
you'll  see  black  characters  on  a  white 
background.  And  you'll  be  able  to  save 
to  disk  by  typing  just  SPN'E" filename" 
(without  adding  a  ,8). 

DELETE 

Use:  BASIC  programming 

Syntax:  DELETE  starting  line-ending 

line 

DELETE  removes  a  range  of  lines  from 
your  program.  Separate  the  starting  line 
number  from  the  ending  number  with  a 
dash  (-).  Use  this  command  with  ex- 
treme caution,  since  it  is  impossible  to 
recover  deleted  program  lines. 

Example:  DELETE  200-250  erases 
all  lines  with  line  numbers  in  the  range 
200-250,  including  lines  200  and  250. 

DLIST 

Use:   disk  command  (see  also  CAT, 

READ) 

Syntax:  DLIST  "filename' 

This  command  lists  a  BASIC  program 
from  disk  to  the  screen,  without  affect- 
ing what's  currently  in  memory.  The 
program  name  must  be  enclosed  in 
quotation  marks.  DLIST  enables  you  to 
look  at  a  program  before  using  MERGE 
or  SCRATCH. 

It  also  allows  you  to  read  portions 
of  the  directory.  DLIST  "$0:A"'  dis- 
plays ail  disk  files  beginning  with  the 
letter  A. 

Example:  DLIST  "BASICPRO- 
GRAM"  reads  the  file  named  BASIC- 
PROGRAM  from  disk  and  lists  it  to  the 
screen. 

DUMP 

Use:  BASIC  programming 
Syntax:  DUMP 

Use  DUMP  to  examine  the  current  val- 
ues of  all  nonarray  variables  in  a  pro- 
gram. If  the  program  is  running,  press 
RUN/STOP  and  type  DUMP.  To  re- 
sume, type  CONT. 

ERR 

Use:  disk  command 
Syntax:  ERR 

ERR  reads  the  disk  drive  error  channel 
and  displays  the  DOS  error  number 
and  error  message  from  the  drive.  Use  it 
when  the  red  light  on  the  disk  drive 
starts  blinking  to  determine  what 
caused  the  problem. 

FIND 

Use:  BASIC  programming  (see  also 
CHANGE,  VCHANGE) 

Syntax:  FIND  @string@,  starting  line, 
ending  line 

FIND   @"string"@,   starting 
line,  ending  line 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette    97 


This  allows  you  to  find  any  word,  vari- 
able, or  other  string  within  a  program. 
Each  line  containing  the  search  string  is 
listed  to  the  screen.  If  you  wish  to 
search  just  one  section  of  the  program, 
add  the  starting  and  ending  hue  num- 
bers, separated  by  commas. 

If  you're  trying  to  find  BASIC 
keywords  (like  PRINT  or  REM),  use  the 
first  format.  It  also  works  for  variables 
and  numbers.  The  second  format 
should  be  used  when  you're  looking  for 
strings  or  items  inside  quotation  marks. 

Example:  FIND  @A  =  @  searches 
for  lines  where  variable  A  is  defined. 

HELP 

Use:  Meta  BASIC  64  command 
Syntax:  HELP 

Whenever  you're  unsure  of  the  com- 
mands available  in  MetaBASlC  64,  type 
HELP  for  a  complete  list. 

INT 

Use:  MetaBASlC  64  command  (see  also 
DEFAULT,  QUIT) 
Syntax:  INT 

Some  features  of  MetaBASlC  64  are 
interrupt -driven.  If  you  reset  the  inter- 
rupts (with  the  MONITOR  command), 
the  function  keys  and  the  SPEED  func- 
tion may  no  longer  work.  INT  puts  the 
MetaBASlC  interrupts  back  in  place. 

KEY 

Use;   BASIC  programming  (see  also 

INT) 

Syntax:  KEY  key  number,  "command 

or  string" 

This  command  adds  a  lot  of  flexibility 
to  MetaBASlC  64,  allowing  you  to  de- 
fine each  of  the  eight  function  keys  as  a 
different  command  or  string.  (Howev- 
er, due  to  a  minor  bug  in  MetaBASlC, 
any  definition  you  assign  to  the  f8  key 
will  be  garbled  whenever  you  use  the 
RENUM  command.)  The  command,  up 
to  ten  letters  in  length  for  each  key, 
must  be  inside  quotafion  marks.  There 
are  two  special  characters:  The  back 
arrow  acts  as  a  carriage  return,  so  you 
don't  have  to  press  RETURN  after 
BASIC  commands.  Also,  the  apostro- 
phe (SHIFT- 7)  counts  as  a  double  quo- 
tation mark. 

Using  KEY,  you  can  load  other  ufil- 
ities  you  may  own  and  SYS  to  them 
with  a  tap  of  a  funcrion  key.  Or  you  can 
do  a  one-key  RUN  or  LIST.  If  you  want 
to  permanently  define  the  function 
keys  and  screen/text  colors,  you  can 
use  KEY  and  DEFAULT  to  set  up  the 
desired  configuration,  then  save  a  copy 
of  your  customized  version  of  MetaBA- 
SIC  using  BSAVE  "METABA- 
SIC",36864,40960.  The  definitions  will 
be  saved  along  with  the  program. 

If  the  interrupts  are  accidentally 
reset,  you'll  have  to  use  the  INT  com- 
mand to  reenable  the  KEY  function. 


Examples: 

KEY  1,"{CLR}LIST100--"  clears 
the  screen  and  lists  from  line  100  on 
whenever  you  press  fl  (the  back  arrow 
means  RETURN  will  happen  automati- 
cally). You  can  also  abbreviate  LIST 
with  L  SHIFT-I. 

KEY  7/'DATA"  could  be  useful 
with  automatic  line  numbering  (see 
AUTO)  if  you're  writing  a  program 
with  a  lot  of  DATA  statements.  After 
entering  a  line,  press  RETURN  and 
you'll  see  the  next  line  number.  Then 
press  f 7,  and  the  word  DATA  automati- 
cally appears. 

KEY  2,"VERIFY'*'^"  defines  f2  to 
print  VERIFY'""  plus  a  RETURN  (note 
the  apostrophes  have  been  changed  to 
quotation  marks).  If  you've  used  DE- 
FAULT to  change  the  device  number  to 
8,  pressing  f2  wall  automatically  verify 
the  program  most  recently  saved  to  disk. 

LLIST 

Use:  printer  command 

Syntax:  LLIST  starting  line-ending  line 

This  command  lists  a  program,  but  the 
listing  is  sent  to  a  printer  rather  than  to 
the  screen.  Line  numbers  are  optional. 
The  syntax  for  LLIST  is  identical  to  the 
regular  LIST.  As  written,  LLIST  does 
the  equivalent  of  OPEN  4,4,4  to  open  a 
file  for  output  to  the  printer.  Some 
printers  may  require  a  different  second- 
ary address  (the  last  number  in  the 
OPEN  statement)— OPEN  4,4,7,  for  ex- 
ample. To  change  the  secondary  ad- 
dress, POKE  the  desired  value  into 
location  40341.  If  you  are  using  a  print- 
er with  a  different  device  number  (5,  for 
example)  or  a  plotter  (device  6),  you  can 
change  the  device  number  for  LLIST  by 
POKEing  the  desired  value  into  loca- 
tion 40339.  To  make  the  changes  per- 
manent, follow  the  instructions  for 
saving  a  new  copy  of  MetaBASlC  given 
above  in  the  discussion  of  the  KEY 
command. 

Example:  LLIST  10-20  to  list  lines 
10-20  to  the  printer. 

MEMORY 

Use:  ML  programming  (see  also  @) 
Syntax:  MEMORY  starting  address- 
ending  address 

You  can  examine  any  section  of  memo- 
ry with  this  command.  Use  decimal 
numbers  (not  hex)  for  the  starting  and 
ending  addresses.  The  values  in  memo- 
ry are  displayed,  six  bytes  per  line,  in 
decimal.  In  addition,  the  equivalent 
ASCII  characters  are  printed  in  reverse 
to  the  right  (if  there's  no  corresponding 
ASCII  character,  a  period  is  printed). 
If  you  omit  the  ending  address, 
MEMORY  43  for  example,  you'll  see 
the  contents  of  two  bytes  (43  and  44). 
This  makes  it  easier  to  look  at  two  byte 
pointers — like  43  and  44  which  point  to 


the  beginning  of  BASIC  memory. 

To  change  memory,  you  can  use 
the  @  command,  described  above. 

Example:  Enter  MEMORY 
41374-41474  and  you'll  see  the  first  few 
error  messages  in  BASIC  ROM  (note 
that  the  ASCII  value  of  the  last  charac- 
ter is  always  added  to  128).  Or,  load  a 
BASIC  program,  and  type  MEMORY 
2048-2148  to  see  how  programs  are 
stored  in  memory. 

MERGE 

Use:  disk  command 

Syntax:  MERGE  "program  name" 

MERGE  reads  a  program  from  disk, 
lists  each  line  to  the  screen,  and  adds 
the  line  to  the  program  in  memory,  If 
the  programs  have  common  line  num- 
bers, the  program  on  disk  takes  prece- 
dence. Say  both  programs  contain  a  line 
250.  The  line  250  from  the  disk  pro- 
gram will  replace  line  250  in  memory. 
Before  using  this  command,  you 
may  want  to  use  DLIST  to  make  sure 
you're  merging  the  right  program.  And 
if  there  are  conflicting  line  numbers,  you 
can  use  RENUM  to  renumber  one  of  the 
two  programs.  If  you  want  to  merge  just 
part  of  one  program,  use  DELETE  to 
eliminate  the  unwanted  lines. 

MONITOR 

Use:  ML  programming  (see  also  INT) 
Syntax:  MONITOR 

If  you  have  a  machine  language  moni- 
tor in  memory,  you  can  enter  it  with 
MONITOR  (providing  it  is  enabled 
when  a  BRK  instruction  is  executed).  To 
use  MetaBASlC  64  with  a  monitor,  you 
must  load  MetaBASlC  64,  type  NEW, 
and  activate  the  program  with  SYS 
36864.  Next,  load  the  monitor,  type 
NEW,  and  SYS  to  the  starting  address 
for  the  monitor  (which  will  set  up  the 
BRK  vector  to  point  to  the  monitor). 

MONITOR  does  several  other 
things,  as  well.  It  changes  border,  back- 
ground, and  text  colors  back  to  their 
default  values  (light  blue  on  dark  blue). 
It  also  resets  the  default  device  number 
and  sets  interrupts  to  normal,  which 
disables  the  function-key  definitions 
(see  KEY)  and  SPEED  command.  You 
can  get  them  back  with  the  INT 
command. 

NUMBER 

Use:  ML  programming 

Syntax:   NUMBER   $hexadecimal 

number 

NUMBER  decimal  number 

NUMBER  allows  you  to  convert  back 
and  forth  between  decimal  and  hexa- 
decimal (hex).  Put  a  dollar  sign  ($)  in 
front  of  hex  numbers.  In  addition,  the 
number  is  displayed  in  low-byte/high - 
byte  format  (in  decimal)  and  in  binary 
(preceded  by  a  percent  sign). 


98    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


Examples:        NUMBER  $100 
256 
0  1 
% 100000000 

NUMBER  34 

$22 
34  0 
%100010 

QUIT 

Use:  MetaBASIC  64  command 
Syntax:  QUIT 

This  resets  all  vectors  and  disables  all 
MetaBASIC  64  commands.  The  one 
thing  it  does  not  do  is  restore  the  top-of- 
memory  pointer.  MetaBASIC  64  is  still 
protected  from  BASIC.  Reactivate  Me- 
taBASIC with  SYS  36864  or  SYS  9'4096. 

READ 

Use:  disk  command  (see  also  CAT, 

DLIST) 

Syntax:  READ  "sequential  filename" 

READ  allows  you  to  examine  sequen- 
tial disk  files.  The  information  in  the  file 
is  displayed  to  the  screen,  without  alter- 
ing whatever  program  is  in  memory. 

In  the  rare  case  that  you  want  to 
use  the  BASIC  READ  statement  in  di- 
rect mode  (to  see  if  all  DATA  state- 
ments have  been  read,  for  example), 
you  can  precede  it  with  a  colon. 

RENUM 

Use:  BASIC  programming 

Syntax;    RENUM    starting    line, 

increment 

This  command  renumbers  the  entire 
BASIC  program  in  memory  (you  can't 
renumber  just  part  of  the  program).  The 
first  line  of  the  renumbered  program 
will  be  given  the  specified  starting  line 
number.  If  you  omit  the  starring  line 
number,  the  renumbered  program  will 
begin  with  line  10.  The  increment  value 
specifies  how  much  the  starting  value 
will  be  incremented  for  each  succeed- 
ing line.  If  no  increment  value  is  pro- 
vided, the  value  defaults  to  10. 

In  addition  to  renumbering  BASIC 
lines,  all  references  in  GOTOs,  GO- 
SUBs,  ON-GOTOs,  ON-GOSUBs,  IF- 
THENs,  and  so  forth  are  taken  care  of. 
One  word  of  caution;  GOTO  is  covered, 
but  GO  TO  (with  a  space  in  the  middle) 
is  not.  Use  FIND  before  renumbering  to 
look  for  occurrences  of  GO  TO. 

Example:  RENUM  100,20  renum- 
bers a  program,  starting  at  line  100, 
counting  up  by  20s. 

RESAVE 

Use:  disk  command  (see  also  BSAVE) 
Syntax;  RESAVE  "filename" 

The  save-with-replace  disk  command 
(SAVE  "@:filename")  first  saves  the 
program  and  then  scratches  the  older 
version,  so  there  must  always  be 
enough  free  space  on  the  disk  for  the 
new  version  of  the  program.  This  can 


cause  problems  if  you  don't  have 
enough  available  space.  The  save-with- 
replace  command  is  also  sometimes  un- 
reliable and  should  be  avoided. 

RESAVE  reverses  the  order — first 
it  scratches  the  old  version  of  your  pro- 
gram from  disk,  and  then  does  a  regular 
SAVE,  solving  both  of  the  above 
problems. 

SCRATCH 

Use;  disk  command 

Syntax:  SCRATCH  "filename" 

SCRATCH  does  the  same  thing  as 
OPEN  15,8,15:  PRINT#15,"S0;/iIen- 
ame":  CLOSE  15,  but  it's  easier  to  type. 
It  scratches  a  file  from  the  disk.  If  you 
have  just  inserted  the  disk  into  the 
drive,  it's  a  good  idea  to  initialize  it  first 
(see  SEND).  You  can  use  wildcards  to 
scratch  more  than  one  program — 
SCRATCH  "A*"  will  get  rid  of  all  files 
beginning  with  the  letter  A.  However, 
you  should  use  such  commands  with 
care  to  avoid  accidentally  deleting  im- 
portant programs. 

Example;  SCRATCH  "SPACE- 
GAME"  removes  the  program  named 
SPACEGAME  from  the  disk. 

SEND 

Use:  disk  command 

Syntax:  SEND  "command  string' 

This  is  a  convenient  way  to  send  disk 
commands  to  channel  15.  SEND"I0" 
initializes  the  drive,  SEND"VO"  vali- 
dates the  disk,  SEND  "RO:newname= 
oldname"  renames  a  disk  file,  and  so  on. 
For  more  information  about  disk  com- 
mands, see  the  1541  user's  manual. 

SPEED 

Use;  BASIC  programming 
Syntax:  SPEED  number 

SPEED  changes  the  rate  at  which  the  64 
prints  to  the  screen.  The  number  sup- 
plied with  the  command  must  be  in  the 
range  0-255.  The  higher  the  number, 
the  slower  the  printing  speed.  Try  typ- 
ing SPEED  255  (the  slowest  you  can 
make  it)  and  then  list  a  program.  You 
can  get  back  to  normal  with  SPEED  0.  If 
it  doesn't  work,  try  using  INT  (see 
above)  to  correct  the  interrupts. 

SPEED  is  useful  when  you're  using 
the  TRACE  command. 

START 

Use:  disk  command 
Syntax:  START  "filename" 

If  you  forget  where  a  machine  language 
program  begins,  put  the  disk  in  the 
drive  and  use  this  command.  This  can 
help  when  you  have  forgotten  the  SYS 
that  starts  a  program.  If  this  command 
returns  the  value  2049,  the  file  you  are 
checking  is  probably  BASIC  rather  than 
machine  language  (or  it  at  least  has  a 
single  line  of  BASIC,  like  SpeedScript). 
Example;  START  "METABASIC 


64"  should  display  36864  on  the  screen. 

TERMINAL 

Use:  modem  command 
Syntax:  TERMINAL 

If  you  own  a  Commodore  modem  (and 
it's  plugged  into  your  64),  TERMINAL 
transforms  your  computer  into  a  300 
baud  "dumb"  terminal  you  can  use  to 
talk  to  standard-ASCII  bulletin  boards 
or  information  services  like  Compu- 
Serve. You  can't  change  any  of  the 
default  parameters,  nor  can  you  upload 
or  download  text  or  programs. 

To  return  to  BASIC,  press  the  £ 
(English  pound)  key;  do  not  press 
RUN/STOP-RESTORE.  A  note  of  cau- 
tion; Memory  locations  52736-53247 
($CEOO-$CFFF)  are  used  for  buffers,  so 
any  program  in  this  area  will  be  over- 
written. 

TRACE 

Use:    BASIC    programming   (see   also 

TROFF) 

Syntax;  TRACE 

If  you're  debugging  a  BASIC  program, 
TRACE  helps  you  see  what's  happen- 
ing. As  each  line  is  executed,  its  line 
number  is  printed  on  the  screen.  Use 
the  SHIFT  or  CTRL  keys  to  temporarily 
halt  the  program.  SPEED  controls  the 
speed  of  execution,  and  TROFF  turns 
off  TRACE. 

TROFF 

Use:    BASIC    programnriing   (see   also 

TRACE) 

Syntax:  TROFF 

This  command  turns  off  the  TRACE 
function. 

UNNEW 

Use:  BASIC  programming 
Syntax:  UNNEW 

You  may  never  need  this  command,  but 
it's  nice  to  have  it  available.  If  you 
accidentally  type  NEW  and  you  want  to 
retrieve  the  program,  use  UNNEW  to 
get  it  back. 

VCHANGE 

Use:    BASIC    programming   (see   also 

CHANGE,  FIND) 

Syntax:    VCHANGE   @old   string- 

@new  string@,  starting  line,  ending 

line 

VCHANGE  @"old  string- 
"@"new  string"@,  starting  line,  end- 
ing tine 

VCHANGE  (Verify  CHANGE)  works 
just  like  CHANGE  (see  above),  except 
you  get  to  choose  whether  or  not  each 
change  is  made.  Each  line  containing 
the  old  string  is  displayed,  with  each 
occurrence  of  the  string  marked  with  a 
filled-in  circle.  If  you  press  Y,  the 
change  is  made.  Press  N  if  you  want  to 
skip  to  the  next  occurrence  of  the  old 
string.  © 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette    99 


MetaBASIC  Plus 


"MetaBASIC  Plus"  is  a  companion 
program  to  "MetaBASIC  64."  It 
adds  11  new  commands  and  modi- 
fies HELP  to  print  the  new  Meta- 
BASIC Plus  commands  in  addition 
to  the  original  MetaBASIC  com- 
mands. To  create  MetaBASIC  Plus, 
you  must  have  a  working  copy  of 
MetaBASIC  64.  See  the  "Meta- 
BASIC 64"  article  on  the  preceding 
pages. 

Creating  MetaBASIC  Plus 

MetaBASIC  Plus  is  a  collection  of 
routines  to  add  new  commands  to 
MetaBASIC  64.  Like  the  original 
program,  the  MetaBASIC  Plus  rou- 
tines are  written  in  machine  lan- 
guage. To  install  MetaBASIC  Plus, 
follow  these  steps  carefully: 

1.  Load  MetaBASIC  64  using  the 
command  LOAD  "METABASIC 
64",8,1. 

2.  Load  MetaBASIC  Plus  using  the 
command  LOAD  "METABASIC 
PLUS",8,1. 

3.  Enter  a  NEW  command  to  reset 
memory  pointers. 

4.  Type  SYS  35126  and  press  RE- 
TURN. This  calls  a  short  (19- 
byte)  routine  at  the  beginning  of 
MetaBASIC  Plus  which  patches 
MetaBASIC  Plus  into  the  origi- 
nal MetaBASIC  and  activates 
the  combined  programs. 

Now  you're  ready  to  save  a 
copy  of  the  new  version  of  Meta- 
BASIC, which  has  the  additional 
MetaBASIC  Plus  commands. 
Before  doing  so,  however,  you 
might  want  to  use  the  KEY  com- 
mand to  set  up  some  default  func- 
tion-key definitions  that  will  be 
enabled  whenever  you  activate  the 
new  MetaBASIC.  When  you're 
ready  to  save  a  new  copy  to  disk, 
simply  use  a  command  of  the  form 


John  Brox  Shadle 

BSAVE  "METABASIC -(-",35145,40960 

Once  you've  saved  a  copy  of  the 
combined  file,  load  and  activate  the 
new  version  of  MetaBASIC  just  like 
you  did  the  old  version,  with  LOAD 
"METABASIC  +  ",8,1  and  SYS 
36864  (or  SYS  9*4096). 

MetaBASIC  Plus  Commands 

Here's  a  rundown  on  the  new 
commands. 

CURSORFREE 

Use:    BASIC    programming   (see    also 

CURSORPRINT) 

Syntax:  CURSORFREE 

Disables  quote  mode  until  the  CUR- 
SORPRINT command  is  given  or  until 
RUN/STOP-RESTORE  is  pressed. 

CURSORPRINT 

Use:    BASIC    programming    (see    also 

CURSORFREE) 

Syntax:  CURSORPRINT 

Re-establishes  quote  mode,  reversing  the 
effect  of  the  CURSORFREE  command. 

END 

Use:  BASIC  programming 
Syntax:  END 

Prints  the  last  memory  location  used  by 
the  BASIC  program  currently  in 
memory. 

FREEMEM 

Use:  BASIC  programming 
Syntax:  FREEMEM 

Prints  the  number  of  bytes  available 
without  performing  any  garbage 
collection. 

MAKEDATA 
Use:  BASIC  programming 
Syntax:  MAKEDATA  starting  ad- 
dress, ending  address 

Converts  the  contents  of  the  specified 
area  of  memory  into  DATA  statements. 
Any  BASIC  program  in  memory  will  be 
erased  by  this  statement.  MAKEDATA 
can  convert  a  maximum  of  4352  bytes. 
The  DATA  statements  created  will  be 
numbered  starting  at  line  zero,  and  will 
include  17  data  items  per  line.  After 
creating  the  DATA  statements,  you  can 


use  the  MetaBASIC  RENUM  command 
to  renumber  the  lines,  then  use  the 
MERGE  command  to  add  the  DATA 
lines  to  another  program. 

POINTER 

Use:  BASIC  programming 
Syntax:  POINTER  address 

This  is  especially  useful  for  checking 
BASIC'S  pointers.  This  command  does 
the  equivalent  of  PRINT  PEEK(address) 
-|-256'PEEK(address  +  1). 

RESET 

Use:  MetaBASIC  Plus  command 
Syntax:  RESET 

Turns  off  MetaBASIC  Plus.  This  is  the 
same  as  MetaBASIC  64's  QUIT  except 
that  all  of  the  memory  used  by  Meta- 
BASIC is  deallocated.  MetaBASIC  can 
be  turned  back  on  (with  SYS  36864  or 
SYS  9'4096)  if  no  files  have  been  load- 
ed and  no  new  strings  have  been 
created. 

SCREEN 

Use:  printer  command 
Syntax:  SCREEN 

Performs  a  screen  dump,  sending  what- 
ever is  on  the  screen  to  the  printer.  This 
works  in  normal  text  mode  only  and 
will  not  dump  screens  with  redefined 
characters  or  high-resolution  bit- 
mapped screens. 

The  SCREEN  command  routine 
does  the  equivalent  of  OPEN  1,4,255. 
Some  printers  may  require  a  different 
secondary  address — 7  is  common.  To 
change  the  secondary  address  used  by 
SCREEN,  POKE  location  35369  with  the 
desired  secondary  address  value,  then 
BSAVE  a  new  copy  of  MetaBASIC  using 
the  command  in  the  instructions  above. 
If  you  want  to  change  the  device  num- 
ber used  by  SCREEN  to  a  value  other 
than  4,  POKE  the  desired  value  into 
location  35367  and  BSAVE  a  new  copy. 

SUPERPEEK 

Use:  ML  or  BASIC  programming 
Syntax:  SUPERPEEK  starting  address, 
number 

Creates  a  window  at  the  top  of  the 
screen  which  shows  the  contents  of  an 


100     Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


area  of  memory  as  decimal  values.  The 
display  begins  with  the  starting  address 
and  includes  the  specified  number  of 
bytes  (the  number  value  must  be  no 
larger  than  50).  If  you  run  a  BASIC  or 
machine  language  program  while  the 
SUPERPEEK  window  is  active,  the 
memory  contents  will  continue  to  be 
displayed  as  the  program  runs.  Thus, 
you  can  see  if  the  program  changes  the 
contents  of  any  of  the  displayed  loca- 
tions.   Press   RUN/STOP    to   see   the 


character  code  equivalents  of  the  num- 
bers. The  INT  command  turns  off 
SUPERPEEK. 

TRAP 

Use:    BASIC    programming   (see    also 

UNTRAP) 

Syntax:  TRAP 

Turns  on  extended  error  analysis. 
When  an  error  occurs  during  a  program 
run,  the  line  causing  the  error  is  listed, 
with  the  word  ERROR  in  reverse  video 


at  the  point  where  the  error  occured. 
Error  trapping  doesn't  work  in  direct 
mode;  it  only  functions  within  a  pro- 
gram. Use  UNTRAP  to  turn  off  extend- 
ed error  analysis. 

UNTRAP 

Use:    BASIC    programming    (see   also 

TRAP) 

Syntax:  UNTRAP 

Disables  extended  error  analysis  to  can- 
cel the  effect  to  the  TRAP  command.® 


MetaBASIC  128 


"MetaBASIC  128,"  will  change  the 
way  you  program.  It  adds  11  new 
debugging  and  testing  commands 
to  BASIC  7.0— and  these  com- 
mands are  instantly  at  your  finger- 
tips for  programming  sessions. 

Using  MetaBASIC  128 

MetaBASIC  128  commands  use 
English  mnemonics,  so  you  don't 
have  to  memorize  a  lot  of  SYS  num- 
bers. Once  MetaBASIC  128  is  ac- 
tive, you'll  have  these  1 1  additional 
commands:  AID,  CHANGE,  DE- 
FAULT, DLIST,  FIND,  MERGE, 
QUIT,  READ,  RESAVE,  START, 
and  UNNEW. 

The  commands  work  only  in 
direct  mode;  you  cannot  add  them 
to  programs.  Also,  you're  limited  to 
one  MetaBASIC  command  per  line 
(although  you  can  still  use  multi- 
statement  lines  inside  your  pro- 
grams). Unlike  ordinary  BASIC 
commands,  there  are  no  abbrevia- 
tions. You  must  type  out  the  entire 
MetaBASIC  128  command.  If  you 
wish  to  stop  the  execution  of  a  com- 
mand, press  the  RUN/STOP  key 
{not  RUN/STOP-RESTORE).  If  it 
seems  to  be  working  incorrectly, 
make  sure  the  syntax  is  correct. 

Machine  language  program- 
mers should  remember  that  Meta- 
BASIC 128  occupies  memory 
locations   $1300-$18BF   (4864- 


Kevin  Mykytyn 

6335)  and  uses  zero-page  locations 
$FB-$FE  (251-254)  and  $AC-$AF 
(172-175). 

To  use  MetaBASIC  128,  follow 
these  steps: 

1.  Load  the  program  with  the  com- 
mand BLOAD  "METABASIC 
128". 

2.  Type  SYS  4864  to  activate  Meta- 
BASIC 128. 

After  the  SYS,  it  may  seem  that 
nothing  has  changed.  But  MetaBA- 
SIC 128  is  active,  and  you  now  have 
11  new  commands  to  help  you 
write  and  debug  programs. 

MetaBASIC  126  Commands 

Here's  an  alphabeHcal  list  of  the  new 
commands  and  how  to  use  them,  with 
examples.  MetaBASIC  128  commands 
and  mandatory  parameters  appear  in 
boldface.  String  parameters  appear  in 
italics.  Optional  parameters  appear  in 
normal  print. 

If  something  is  described  as  a  disk 
command,  it  won't  work  unless  you 
have  a  disk  drive.  However,  some  of 
the  ML  programming  aids  can  be  useful 
in  BASIC,  and  vice  versa. 

AID 

Syntax:  AID 

Lists  all  available  MetaBASIC  128 
commands. 

CHANGE 

Syntax:   CHANGE  @old  string@new 


string@,  starting  line,  ending 

line 

CHANGE  @old  string@new 

string@,  starting  line 

CHANGE  @old  string@new 

strin^@„ending  line 

CHANGE    /old   string/new 

string/,  starting  line,  ending 

line 

CHANGE    /old    string/new 

string/,  starting  line 

CHANGE    /old   string/new 

string/,, ending  line 

See  also  FIND. 

CHANGE  searches  through  the  pro- 
gram in  memory,  changing  every  oc- 
currence of  the  old  string  to  the  new 
one.  The  strings  can  be  up  to  30  charac- 
ters long  and  must  be  bracketed  by  the 
commercial  at  sign  (@)  or  the  slash  (/). 
All  lines  in  which  changes  are  made  are 
listed  to  the  screen.  The  format  with  @ 
is  the  tokenized  form  and  should  be 
used  to  change  BASIC  commands  and 
variable  names.  The  ASCII  form  (the 
slash  format)  is  useful  when  you  want 
to  change  a  word  in  a  string  without 
changing  keywords.  For  example: 

CHANGE  /PRINT/WRITE/ 

changes  all  occurrences  of  the  word 
PRINT  within  quotarion  marks  without 
changing  any  PRINT  statements. 

Use  the  slash  format  to  change 
anything  inside  quotation  marks  or 
after  a  REM  statement;  use  the  at  sign 
format  to  change  anything  not  inside 
quotation  marks  or  after  a  REM  state- 
ment.   Remember   that   mathematical 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     101 


operators  within  programs  such  as  +, 
~,  ',  /,  >,  <,  and  =  are  stored  as 
tokens,  not  characters,  so  you  must  use 
the  @  format  when  searching  for  one  of 
these. 

If  you  omit  the  line  numbers, 
CHANGE  affects  the  whole  program.  If 
you  want  to  change  only  one  section, 
add  the  starting  and  ending  line  num- 
bers, marked  off  by  commas. 

Example:  CHANGE  @X@QQ@ 
„200  changes  the  variable  X  to  QQ  in  all 
lines  up  to  and  including  200.  To 
change  the  name  Charles  to  John 
throughout  the  program,  CHANGE 
/CHARLES/JOHN/. 

DEFAULT 

Syntax:  DEFAULT  border  color,  back- 
ground color,  text  color 

See  also  QUIT. 

When  you  press  RUN/STOP-RE- 
STORE, the  screen  reverts  to  the  default 
colors  light  green  and  black.  DEFAULT 
lets  you  change  these  values  to  what- 
ever you  prefer.  If  your  128  is  hooked 
up  to  a  black-and-white  TV,  change  the 
character  and  background  colors  to  a 
more  readable  combination.  The  bor- 
der- and  background-color  changes  af- 
fect only  the  40-column  screen;  the 
text-color  change  affects  both  the  40- 
and  80-column  displays. 


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The  Home  Budget  System 

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Machfies  Inc 
BUDGET  MASTER  is  a  irademark  ol  Eychaner  Software  Co. 


To  disable  DEFAULT  (and  go  back 
to  normal  colors),  use  the  QUIT 
command. 

Example:  DEFAULT  1,1/0  changes 
border  and  background  to  white,  and 
characters  to  black.  If  you  press  RUN/ 
STOP-RESTORE,  you'll  see  black  char- 
acters on  a  white  background. 

DLIST 

Syntax:  DLIST  "filename" 

See  also  READ. 

This  command  lists  a  BASIC  program 
from  disk  to  the  screen  without  affect- 
ing what's  currently  in  memory.  The 
program  name  must  be  enclosed  in 
quotation  marks.  DLIST  enables  you  to 
look  at  a  program  before  using  MERGE 
or  SCRATCH. 

Example:  DLIST  "BASICPRO- 
GRAM"  reads  the  program  file  named 
BASICPROGRAM  from  disk  and  lists  it 
to  the  screen. 

FIND 

Syntax:  FIND  @string@,  starting  line, 
ending  line 

FIND  @string@,  starting  line 
FIND  @stritig@„  ending  line 
FIND  /string/,  starting  line, 
ending  line 

FIND  /string/,  starting  line 
FIND  /string/,,  ending  line 

See  also  CHANCE. 

This  allows  you  to  find  any  word,  vari- 
able, or  other  string  within  a  program. 
Each  line  containing  the  search  string  is 
listed  to  the  screen.  If  you  wish  to 
search  just  one  section  of  the  program, 
add  the  starting  and  ending  line  num- 
bers, separated  by  commas. 

If  you're  trying  to  find  BASIC 
keywords  (like  PRINT  or  REM),  use  the 
first  format  with  the  @  symbols.  It  also 
works  for  variables  and  numbers.  The 
second  format  should  be  used  when 
you're  looking  for  strings  or  items  in- 
side quotation  marks. 

Example:  FIND  @A  =  @  searches 
for  lines  where  variable  A  is  defined. 

MERGE 

Syntax:  MERGE  "program  name" 

MERGE  reads  a  program  from  disk, 
lists  each  line  to  the  screen,  and  adds 
the  line  to  the  program  in  memory.  If 
the  programs  have  common  line  num- 
bers, the  program  on  disk  takes  prece- 
dence. Say  both  programs  contain  a  line 
250.  The  line  250  from  the  disk  pro- 
gram will  replace  line  250  in  memory. 
Before  using  this  command,  you 
may  want  to  use  DLIST  to  make  sure 
you're  merging  the  right  program.  And 
if  there  are  conflicting  line  numbers,  you 
can  use  RENUMBER  to  renumber  one  of 
the  two  programs.  If  you  want  to  merge 
just  part  of  one  program,  use  DELETE  to 
eliminate  the  unwanted  lines. 


QUIT 
Syntax:  QUIT 

This  resets  all  vectors  and  disables  all 
MetaBASIC  commands.  MetaBASIC  is 
still  protected  from  BASIC.  Reactivate 
MetaBASIC  with  SYS  4864. 

READ 

Syntax:  READ  "filename" 

See  also  DLIST. 

READ  allows  you  to  examine  sequen- 
tial disk  files.  The  information  in  the  file 
is  displayed  to  the  screen,  without  alter- 
ing whatever  program  is  in  memory. 

In  the  rare  case  that  you  want  to 
use  the  BASIC  READ  statement  in  di- 
rect mode  (to  see  if  all  DATA  state- 
ments have  been  read,  for  example), 
you  can  precede  it  with  a  colon  to  dis- 
ringuish  it  from  MetaBASIC  128's 
READ  command. 

RESAVE 

Syntax:  RESAVE  "filename" 

The  save-with-replace  disk  command 
(SAVE  "@0:filename")  first  saves  the 
new  version  of  the  program  and  then 
scratches  the  older  version,  so  there 
must  always  be  enough  free  space  on 
the  disk  for  both  versions.  Thus,  the 
command  can  cause  problems  if  you 
don't  have  enough  available  disk  space 
for  the  new  version.  The  save-with- 
replace  command  also  has  other  prob- 
lems and  is  best  avoided. 

RESAVE  reverses  the  order — first 
it  scratches  the  old  version  of  your  pro- 
gram from  disk,  and  then  it  does  a 
regular  SAVE,  solving  both  of  the 
above  problems. 

START 

Syntax:  START  "filename" 

If  you  forget  where  a  machine  language 
program  begins,  put  the  disk  in  the 
drive  and  use  this  command.  This  can 
help  when  you  have  forgotten  the  SYS 
that  starts  a  program.  If  the  command 
returns  a  value  of  7169,  the  program  is 
probably  BASIC  or  a  machine  language 
program  with  a  single  BASIC  line  so 
that  it  starts  with  RUN  rather  than  SYS. 
Example:  START  "METABASIC 
128"  should  display  4864  on  the  screen. 

UNNEW 
Syntax:  UNNEW 

You  may  never  need  this  command,  but 
it's  nice  to  have  it  available.  If  you  acci- 
dentally type  NEW  and  you  want  to 
retrieve  the  program,  use  UNNEW  to  get 
it  back.  ® 


102    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


SpeedScript  3.2 

For  The  Commodore  64 


Since  its  introduction  in  the  January 
1984  issue  of  COMPUTEI's  Gazette, 
SpeedScript  has  been  the  most  popu- 
lar program  ever  published  by  COM- 
PUTE! Publications.  Written  entirely 
in  machine  language,  SpeedScript 
contains  nearly  every  command  and 
convenience  you'd  expect  from  a 
quality  word  processor.  The  latest 
version  of  Commodore  64  Speed- 
Script,  version  3.2,  incorporates 
many  improvements,  readers'  sugges- 
tions, and  additional  debugging.  This 
version  also  works  on  a  Commodore 
128  in  64  mode. 


SpeedScript  3.2,  though  compact  in 
size  {6K),  has  many  features  found 
on  commercial  word  processors. 
SpeedScript  is  also  very  easy  to  learn 
and  use.  You  can  start  writing  with  it 
the  first  time  you  use  it.  You  type  in 
everything  first;  preview  and  make 
corrections  on  the  screen;  insert  and 
delete  words,  sentences,  and  para- 
graphs; and  then  print  out  an  error- 
free  draft,  letting  SpeedScript  take 
care  of  things  like  margins,  center- 
ing, headers,  and  footers. 

SpeedScript  is  a  writing  tool.  It 
won't  necessarily  make  you  a  better 
writer,  but  you  may  become  a  bet- 
ter writer  once  the  tedium  of  retyp- 
ing and  erasing  is  replaced  by  the 
flexibility  of  a  word  processor. 
Words  are  no  longer  frozen  in  place 


Chorles  Brannon 


by  ink;  they  become  free-floating 
entities.  You  no  longer  think  about 
typewriting — you  can  stand  back 
and  work  directly  with  words  and 
ideas.  The  distinction  between 
rough  and  final  drafts  becomes 
blurred  as  you  perfect  your  writing 
as  you  write. 

Loading  SpeedScript 

SpeedScript  can  be  loaded  just  as  if  it 
were  a  BASIC  program.  If  you  load 
SpeedScript  and  list  it,  you'll  see  that 
it  looks  like  a  one-line  BASIC  pro- 
gram. This  BASIC  line  is  included 
to  make  the  program  easy  to  load, 
run,  and  copy.  It's  a  good  idea  to 
save  a  couple  of  extia  copies  of 
SpeedScript,  just  in  case  the  original 
is  destroyed.  To  do  this,  type 
SAVE"SPEEDSCRIPT3.2",8  {or  ,1 
if  you're  using  tape)  after  loading 
SpeedScript,  just  as  you  would  for  a 
BASIC  program.  Use  whatever  file- 
name you  like. 

Before  using  SpeedScript,  you 
should  unplug  any  cartridges  and 
expanders.  SpeedScript  cannot  take 
advantage  of  any  custom  hardware 
configurations  except  those  that  do 
not  interfere  with  normal  operations. 

Entering  Text 

When  you  run  SpeedScript,  the 
screen  colors  change  to  dark  gray 
on  light  gray  except  for  the  top 
screen  line,  which  is  black  with 


white  letters.  This  command  line  is 
used  to  communicate  with  Speed- 
Script.  SpeedScript  presents  all  mes- 
sages here.  The  remaining  lines  of 
the  screen  are  used  to  enter,  edit, 
and  display  your  document.  The 
cursor  shows  where  the  next  char- 
acter you  type  will  appear  on  the 
screen.  SpeedScript  lets  you  move 
the  cursor  anywhere  within  your 
document,  making  it  easy  to  find 
and  correct  errors. 

To  begin  using  SpeedScript,  just 
start  typing.  When  the  cursor 
reaches  the  right  edge  of  the  screen, 
it  automatically  jumps  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  next  line,  just  as  in 
BASIC.  But  unlike  BASIC,  Speed- 
Script  never  splits  words  at  the  right 
edge  of  the  screen.  If  a  word  you're 
typing  won't  fit  at  the  end  of  one 
line,  it's  instantly  moved  to  the  next 
line.  This  feature,  called  word-wrap, 
makes  it  much  easier  to  read  your 
text  on  the  screen.  Even  if  you  make 
numerous  editing  changes,  Speed- 
Script  reformats  the  screen  and  re- 
wraps  all  words. 

Scrolling  And 
Screen  Formatting 

When  you  finish  typing  on  the  last 
screen  line,  SpeedScript  automati- 
cally scrolls  the  text  upward  to 
make  room  for  a  new  line  at  the 
bottom.  This  is  similar  to  the  way 
BASIC  works,  but  with  one  excep- 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     103 


tion:  The  screen  can  scroll  both  up 
and  down.  Imagine  the  screen  as  a 
24-Iine  window  on  a  long,  continu- 
ous document. 

More  than  43K  of  text  space  is 
available  in  memory,  room  enough 
for  20-40  printed  pages  of  text.  To 
check  at  any  time  how  much  space 
is  left,  press  CTRL-=  (hold  down 
the  CTRL  key  while  pressing  the  = 
key).  The  number  which  appears 
on  the  command  line  indicates  how 
much  room  remains  for  characters 
of  text. 

If  you're  used  to  a  typewriter, 
you'll  have  to  unlearn  some  habits. 
First,  since  the  screen  is  only  40 
columns  wide,  and  most  printers 
have  80-column  carriages,  it 
doesn't  make  sense  to  press  RE- 
TURN at  the  end  of  each  line  as  you 
do  on  a  typewriter.  SpeedScript's 
word-wrap  takes  care  of  this  auto- 
matically. Press  RETURN  only 
when  you  want  to  force  a  carriage 
return  to  end  a  paragraph  or  to  limit 
the  length  of  a  line.  So  that  you  can 
see  these  forced  carriage  returns, 
they  appear  on  the  screen  as  left- 
pointing  arrows  (called  return  marks 
in  this  article). 

When  you  print  your  docu- 
ment, SpeedScript  automatically 
formats  your  text  to  fit  the  width  of 
the  paper.  Don't  manually  space 
over  for  a  left  margin  or  try  to  cen- 
ter a  line  yourself  as  you  would  on  a 
typewriter.  SpeedScript's  printing 
routine  automatically  takes  care  of 
all  margins  and  centering  and  lets 
you  customize  the  margin  settings. 
Also,  don't  worry  about  where  a 
printed  page  will  end.  When  print- 
ing, SpeedScript  automatically  fits 
your  text  onto  separate  pages  and 
can  even  put  short  phrases  and 
page  numbers  at  the  top  or  bottom 
of  each  page  if  you  want. 

Like  all  good  word  processors, 
SpeedScript  has  a  wide  selection  of 
editing  and  convenience  features. 
You  can  move  the  cursor  a  single 
space  in  either  direction,  or  skip  to 
the  next  or  previous  word,  sen- 
tence, or  paragraph.  You  can  also 
move  the  cursor  to  the  top  of  the 
screen,  the  top  of  the  document,  or 
the  end  of  the  document.  The 
INST/DEL  key  is  used  to  insert  a 
single  space  or  delete  a  single  char- 
acter. Other  features  let  you  erase  a 
word,  sentence,  or  paragraph,  and 
move  or  copy  sentences,   words. 


and  paragraphs  to  other  places  in 
your  document.  Using  Search-and- 
Replace,  you  can  find  any  phrase 
and  even  automarically  change  one 
phrase  to  another  throughout  the 
entire  document. 

You  can  save  your  text  on  tape 
or  disk,  then  load  it  later  for  addi- 
tions and  corrections.  You  can 
transpose  (exchange)  two  charac- 
ters, change  the  screen  and  text  col- 
ors, send  disk  commands,  read  the 
disk  error  channel,  and  automati- 
cally tab  over  five  spaces  for  para- 
graph indents.  You  don't  need  to 
learn  all  these  commands  right 
away,  but  you'll  be  glad  they're 
available  as  you  become  more  com- 
fortable with  word  processing. 

Using  The  Keyboard 

Most  of  SpeedScript's  features  are 
accessed  with  control-key  com- 
mands— you  hold  down  CTRL 
while  pressing  another  key.  In  this 
article,  control-key  commands  are 
abbreviated  CTRL-x  (where  x  is  the 
key  you  press  in  combination  with 
CTRL).  An  example  is  the  CTRL-  = 
mentioned  above  to  check  on  free 
memory.  CTRL-E  means  hold 
down  CTRL  and  press  E.  Some- 
times you  have  to  hold  down  both 
SHIFT  and  CTRL  as  you  type  the 
command  key,  as  in  SHIFT-CTRL- 
H.  Other  keys  are  referenced  by 
name  or  function,  such  as  back  ar- 
row for  the  left-pointing  arrow  in 
the  top-left  comer  of  the  keyboard, 
pound  sign  for  the  British  pound 
symbol  (£),  CLR/HOME  for  the 
home-cursor  key,  SHIFT-CLR/ 
HOME  for  the  clear-screen  key,  fl 
for  special -function  key  1,  and  up 
arrow  for  the  upward-pointing  ar- 
row to  the  left  of  the  RESTORE  key. 

Some  keys  let  you  move  the 
cursor  to  different  places  in  the  doc- 
ument to  make  corrections  or  scroll 
text  into  view.  SpeedScript  uses  a 
unique  method  of  cursor  movement 
that  is  related  to  writing,  not  pro- 
gramming. Programmers  work  with 
lines  of  text  and  need  to  move  the 
cursor  up  and  down  a  line  or  left  and 
right  across  a  line.  SpeedScript,  how- 
ever, is  oriented  for  writers.  You 
aren't  working  with  lines  of  text,  but 
with  a  continuous  document. 

Therefore,  SpeedScript  moves 
the  cursor  by  character,  word,  sen- 
tence, or  paragraph.  SpeedScript  de- 
fines a  word  as  any  sequence  of 


characters  preceded  or  followed  by 
a  space.  A  sentence  is  any  sequence 
of  characters  ending  with  a  period, 
exclamation  point,  question  mark, 
or  return  mark.  And  a  paragraph  is 
defined  as  any  sequence  of  charac- 
ters ending  in  a  return  mark. 
(Again,  a  return  mark  appears  on 
the  screen  as  a  left-pointing  arrow.) 

Here's    how    to    control    the 
cursor: 

•  The  left/right-cursor  key  works 
as  usual;  pressing  this  key  by  itself 
moves  the  cursor  right  (forward) 
one  space,  and  pressing  it  with 
SHIFT  moves  the  cursor  left  (back- 
ward) one  space. 

•  The  up/down-cursor  key  moves 
the  cursor  forward  to  the  beginning 
of  the  next  sentence.  Pressing  it 
with  SHIFT  moves  the  cursor  back- 
ward to  the  beginning  of  the  previ- 
ous sentence. 

•  The  fl  function  key  moves  the 
cursor  forward  to  the  beginning  of 
the  next  word.  The  f2  key  (hold 
down  SHIFT  and  press  fl)  moves 
the  cursor  backward  to  the  begin- 
ning of  the  previous  word. 

•  The  f3  function  key  moves  the 
cursor  forward  to  the  beginning  of 
the  next  sentence  (just  like  the  up/ 
down-cursor  key).  The  f4  key 
{hold  down  SHIFT  and  press  f3) 
moves  the  cursor  backward  to  the 
beginning  of  the  previous  sentence 
(just  like  pressing  SHIFT  and  the 
up/down-cursor  key). 

•  The  f5  function  key  moves  the 
cursor  forward  to  the  beginning  of 
the  next  paragraph.  The  f6  key 
(hold  down  SHIFT  and  press  f5) 
moves  the  cursor  backward  to  the 
beginning  of  the  previous 
paragraph. 

•  CLR/HOME,  pressed  once  by  it- 
self, moves  the  cursor  to  the  top  of 
the  screen  without  scrolling. 
Pressed  twice,  it  moves  the  cursor 
to  the  beginning  of  the  document. 

•  CTRL-Z  moves  the  cursor  to  the 
bottom  of  the  document. 

Correcting  Your  Typing 

One  strength  of  a  word  processor  is 
that  you  need  never  have  mistakes 
in  your  printed  document.  Since 
you've  typed  everything  before  you 
print  it,  you  have  plenty  of  oppor- 
tunities to  proofread  and  correct 
your  work.  The  easiest  way  to  cor- 


104    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


Figure  1:  5peed5cr/p/ Keyboard  Map 


Insvrt  5 


Use  [cm] with  most  commands. 


Backspace 


(indcnl)       Dvlvte  In 
V /skiff: 
bis*r<  255 
syacvs 


(^(q)(w) 

(SVP)      text 


Delete 
v/ shift 
Disk  Insert  a 

Ccmmand    Heme    ^P'ce 
cursor         / 
.  /shift 
Erase  All 


©  ©  Gl© ©iD©  ©  0 Q^^P' 

^^^©®l®©l©©fe 

.- .     \    Vwunt  \  Letterin9    /  N«xt 


iRESTORff 

I  Re  turn 


CRSIt      (HSR 
■        11 


pose 


Search 

$1.  Replace 


*■-     \    ^Hunt     \  • —^    •  "'V  Cursfl 

Replace  «•'••'      Memory  seiitence     |,f^/ 

'"^  leff  y /shift:        ... 


Cursor 


Previous 
sentence 


rifht 


CTRL  A 

CTRLB 

CTRLD 

CTRLE 

CTRLG 

CTRLH 

CTRL  I 

CTRL  J 

CTRLK 

CTRLL 

CTRLP 

CTRLR 

CTRL  V 

CTRLX 

CTRLZ 

CTRL  = 

CTRLT 

CTRL  4 

CTRLE 

CTRL  3 

CLR/HOME 

CRSR 

(left/ right) 

CRSR 

(up/down) 

Change  case 

Change  border  color 

Delete  (Sentence,  Word,  Paragraph) 

Erase  (Sentence,  Word,  Paragraph) 

Global  search  and  replace 

Hunt  for  phrase 

with  SHIFT:  Select  hunt  phrase 

Enter/exit  insert  mode 

Replace 

with  SHIFT:  Select  replace  phrase 

Kill  buffer 

Change  text  character  color 

Print 

Restore  buffer 

Verify 

Transpose  characters 

Go  to  end  of  text 

Display  amount  of  free  memory 

Send  disk  command  or  read  error  channel 

Display  disk  directory 

Enter  format  (printer)  commands 

Commodore  64  only:  Same  as  CTRL-E 

Press  once  to  go  to  top  of  screen 

Hold  down  to  go  to  top  of  text 

with  SHIFT:  Erase  all  text 

Move  the  cursor  left  one  character 

with  SHIFT:  Move  the  cursor  right  one  character 

Got  to  next  sentence 

with  SHIFT:  Go  to  previous  sentence 


RUN/STOP 


RESTORE 


RETURN 


INST/DEL 


Indent  5  spaces 

with  SHIFT:  Insert  255  spaces 

Exit  SpeedScript  (Commodore  64) 

with  RUN/STOP:  Exit  SpeedScript  (VIC-20) 

Backspace 

with  CTRL:  Delete  character  under  cursor 

and  close  up  text 

with  SHIFT  and  CTRL:  Delete  all  spaces 

from  cursor  to  next  character 

Return  mark 

with  SHIFT:  End  paragraph,  add  an  extra 

return  mark,  and  indent  next  paragraph 

Delete  character 

with  SHIFT:  Insert  space 

(1  Next  Word 
(2  Previous  Word 
£3  Next  Sentence 
£4  Previous  Sentence 
£5  Next  Paragraph 


£6  Previous  Paragraph 
£7  Load 


£8  Save 


rect  something  is  just  to  type  over 
it,  but  there  are  other  ways   too. 

Sometimes  you'll  have  to  in- 
sert characters  to  make  a  correction. 
Maybe  you  accidentally  dropped  a 
letter,  typing  hngry  instead  of 
hungry.   When   you  change  the 


length  of  a  word,  you  need  to  push 
over  everything  to  the  right  of  the 
word  to  make  room  for  the  inser- 
tion. Use  SHIFT-INST/DEL  to 
open  up  a  single  space,  just  as  in 
BASIC.  Merely  position  the  cursor 
at  the  point  where  you  want  to 


insert  a  space,  and  press  SHIFT- 
INST/DEL. 

Insert  Modes 

It  can  be  tedious  to  use  the  SHIFT- 
INST/DEL  key  to  open  up  enough 
space  for  a  whole  sentence  or  para- 


Best  of  COMPUTE  I  and  Gazette     1 05 


graph.  For  convenience,  SpeedScript 
has  an  insert  mode  that  automati- 
cally inserts  space  for  each  charac- 
ter you  type.  In  this  mode,  you  can't 
type  over  characters;  everything  is 
inserted  at  the  cursor  position.  To 
enter  insert  mode,  press  CTRL-I. 
To  cancel  insert  mode,  press  CTRL- 
I  again.  {This  kind  of  command  key, 
one  which  is  used  to  turn  some- 
thing both  on  and  off,  is  called  a 
toggle).  To  let  you  know  you're  in 
insert  mode,  the  normally  black 
command  line  at  the  top  of  the 
screen  turns  blue. 

Insert  mode  is  the  easiest  way 
to  insert  text,  but  it  can  become  too 
slow  when  you're  working  with  a 
very  long  document  because  it 
must  move  all  the  text  following  the 
cursor  position.  Although  Speed- 
Script  uses  turbocharged  memory- 
move  routines,  the  6510  micro- 
processor can  go  only  so  fast.  So 
SpeedScript  has  even  more  ways  to 
insert  blocks  of  text. 

One  way  is  to  use  the  RUN/ 
STOP  key.  It  is  programmed  in 
SpeedScript  to  act  as  a  five-space 
margin  indent.  To  end  one  para- 
graph and  start  another,  press  RE- 
TURN twice  and  press  RUN/ 
STOP.  Alternatively,  you  can  press 
SHIFT-RETURN,  which  does  this 
automatically.  You  can  use  RUN/ 
STOP  to  open  up  more  space  than 
SHIFT-INST/DEL.  No  matter  how 
much  space  you  want  to  insert, 
each  insertion  takes  the  same 
amount  of  time.  So  the  RUN/ 
STOP  key  can  insert  five  spaces  five 
times  faster  than  pressing  SHIFT- 
INST/DEL  five  times. 

There's  an  even  better  way, 
though.  Press  SHIFT-RUN/STOP 
to  insert  255  spaces.  This  is  enough 
room  for  a  sentence  or  two.  You  can 
press  it  several  times  to  open  up  as 
much  space  as  you  need.  And 
SHIFT-RUN/STOP  is  fast.  (You 
don't  want  to  be  in  insert  mode 
when  you  use  this  trick;  that  would 
defeat  its  purpose.) 

Since  the  INST/DEL  key  is 
also  slow  when  you're  working 
with  large  documents  (it,  too,  must 
move  all  text  following  the  cursor), 
you  may  prefer  to  use  the  back- 
arrow  (•-)  key  to  backspace.  The 
back-arrow  key  by  itself  moves  the 
cursor  left  one  space  and  blanks  out 
that  position.  It's  more  like  a  back- 
space than  a  delete. 


After  you're  finished  inserting 
with  these  methods,  there  will 
probably  be  some  inserted  spaces 
left  over  that  you  didn't  use.  Just 
press  SHIFT-CTRL-back  arrow. 
This  instantly  deletes  all  extra 
spaces  between  the  cursor  and  the 
start  of  the  following  text. 
SHIFT-CTRL-back  arrow  is  also 
generally  useful  whenever  you 
want  to  delete  a  bunch  of  spaces. 

Erasing  Text 

Inserting  and  retyping  are  not  the 
only  kinds  of  corrections  you'll 
need  to  make.  Part  of  writing  is 
separating  the  wheat  from  the 
chaff.  On  a  typewriter,  you  pull  out 
the  paper  and  throw  it  away.  Speed- 
Script  lets  you  be  more  selective. 

Press  the  INST/DEL  key  by 
itself  to  erase  the  character  to  the 
left  of  the  cursor.  All  the  following 
text  is  pulled  back  to  fill  the  vacant 
space. 

Press  CTRL-back  arrow  to  de- 
lete the  character  on  which  the  cur- 
sor is  sitting.  Again,  all  the 
following  text  is  moved  toward  the 
cursor  to  fill  the  empty  space. 

These  keys  are  fine  for  minor 
deletions,  but  it  could  take  a  long 
time  to  delete  a  whole  paragraph 
this  way.  So  SpeedScript  has  two 
commands  that  can  delete  an  entire 
word,  sentence,  or  paragraph  at  a 
time.  CTRL-E  erases  text  after  (to 
the  right  of)  the  cursor  position,  and 
CTRL-D  deletes  text  behind  (to  the 
left  of)  the  cursor. 

To  use  the  CTRL-E  (erase) 
mode,  first  place  the  cursor  at  the 
beginning  of  the  word,  sentence,  or 
paragraph  you  want  to  erase.  Then 
press  CTRL-E.  The  command  line 
shows  the  message  Erase  (S,W,P): 
RETURN  to  exit.  Press  S  to  erase  a 
sentence,  W  for  a  word,  or  P  for  a 
paragraph.  Each  time  you  press  one 
of  these  letters,  the  text  is  quickly 
erased.  You  can  keep  pressing  S,  W, 
or  P  until  you've  erased  all  the  text 
you  wish.  Then  press  RETURN  to 
exit  the  erase  mode. 

The  CTRL-D  (delete)  mode 
works  similarly,  but  deletes  only 
one  word,  sentence,  or  paragraph  at 
a  time.  First,  place  the  cursor  after 
the  word,  sentence,  or  paragraph 
you  want  to  delete.  Then  press 
CTRL-D.  Next,  press  S,  W,  or  P  for 
sentence,  word,  or  paragraph.  The 
text  is  immediately  deleted  and  you 


return  to  editing.  You  don't  need  to 
press  RETURN  to  exit  the  CTRL-D 
mode  unless  you  pressed  this  key 
by  mistake.  (In  general,  you  can  es- 
cape from  any  command  in  Speed- 
Script  by  simply  pressing  RETURN.) 
CTRL-D  is  most  convenient  when 
the  cursor  is  already  past  what 
you've  been  typing. 

The  Text  Buffer 

When  you  erase  or  delete  with 
CTRL-E  and  CTRL-D,  the  text  isn't 
lost  forever.  SpeedScript  remembers 
what  you've  removed  by  storing 
deletions  in  a  separate  area  of  mem- 
ory called  a  buffer.  The  buffer  is  a 
fail-safe  device.  If  you  erase  too 
much  or  change  your  mind,  just 
press  CTRL-R  to  restore  the  dele- 
tion. However,  be  aware  that 
SpeedScript  remembers  only  the  last 
erase  or  delete  you  performed. 

Another,  more  powerful  use  of 
this  buffer  is  to  move  or  copy  sec- 
tions of  text.  To  move  some  text 
from  one  location  in  your  docu- 
ment to  another,  first  erase  or  delete 
it  with  CTRL-E  or  CTRL-D.  Then 
move  the  cursor  to  where  you  want 
the  text  to  appear  and  press  CTRL- 
R.  CTRL-R  instantly  inserts  the 
contents  of  the  buffer  at  the  cursor 
position.  If  you  want  to  copy  some 
text  from  one  part  of  your  docu- 
ment to  another,  just  erase  or  delete 
it  with  CTRL-E  or  CTRL-D,  restore 
it  at  the  original  posifion  with 
CTRL-R,  and  then  move  the  cursor 
elsewhere  and  press  CTRL-R  to  re- 
store it  again.  You  can  retrieve  the 
buffer  with  CTRL-R  as  many  times 
as  you  like. 

Important:  The  CTRL-E  erase 
mode  lets  you  erase  up  to  the  maxi- 
mum size  of  the  buffer  (12K,  or  over 
12,000  characters).  CTRL-E  normal- 
ly removes  the  previous  contents  of 
the  buffer  each  time  it  is  used.  Keep 
this  in  mind  if  there's  something  in 
the  buffer  you'd  rather  keep.  If  you 
don't  want  the  current  buffer  con- 
tents to  be  erased,  press 
SHIFT-CTRL-E  instead.  This  pre- 
serves the  buffer  contents  and  adds 
newly  erased  text  to  the  buffer. 

Now  you  can  see  why  CTRL-D 
lets  you  delete  only  a  single  sen- 
tence, word,  or  paragraph  at  a  time. 
If  it  didn't,  the  deleted  text  would 
be  added  to  the  end  of  the  buffer, 
and  when  you  pressed  CTRL-R  to 
retrieve  the  buffer,  the  deleted  text 


106    Best  of  COfwWUTEl  and  Gazette 


would  be  out  of  order  (since  CTRL-D 
deletes  backward). 

If  you  ever  need  to  erase  the 
contents  of  the  buffer,  press  CTRL-K 
(remember  kill  buffer). 

It's  relatively  easy  to  move 
blocks  of  text  between  documents. 
Using  the  buffer,  you  can  load  one 
document,  erase  some  text  into  the 
buffer,  load  another  document,  and 
then  insert  the  buffer  contents  into 
the  new  document.  You  can  also  use 
the  buffer  to  save  an  often-used 
word  or  phrase,  then  repeat  it  when- 
ever you  need  it. 

Starling  From  Scratch 

If  you  want  to  start  a  new  document 
or  simply  obliterate  all  your  text, 
press  SHIFT-CLR/HOME.  Speed- 
Script  asks,  ERASE  ALL  TEXT:  Are 
you  sure?  (Y/N).  This  is  your  last 
chance.  If  you  don't  want  to  erase 
the  entire  document,  press  N  or  any 
other  key.  Press  Y  to  perform  the 
irreversible  deed.  There  is  no  way 
to  recover  text  wiped  out  with  Erase 
All. 

The  RUN/STOP-RESTORE 
reset  combination  on  the  Commo- 
dore 64  has  been  disabled  in 
SpeedScript. 

As  mentioned  above,  pressing 
RUN/STOP  by  itself  inserts  five 
spaces  for  indenting  paragraphs. 

Pressing  just  RESTORE  brings 
up  the  message  Exit  SpeedScript:  Are 
you  sure?  (Y/N).  if  you  press  Y  for 
yes,  you  exit  to  BASIC.  (If  you  press 
N  or  any  other  key  at  the  prompt, 
you  return  to  editing  text  with  no 
harm  done.)  Once  in  BASIC  you'll 
still  have  one  chance  to  reenter 
SpeedScript  without  losing  your 
text — simply  enter  RUN  and  your 
text  should  be  intact  when  Speed- 
Script  is  restarted.  (Your  chances  of 
recovering  text  decrease  if  you  exe- 
cute other  commands  while  in 
BASIC.) 

Searcti-And-Replace 

Here's  another  feature  only  a  com- 
puter can  bring  to  writing.  Speed- 
Script  has  a  Hunt  command  that 
searches  through  your  document  to 
find  a  selected  word  or  phrase.  A 
Replace  option  lets  you  automati- 
cally change  one  word  to  another 
throughout  the  document.  Since  on 
the  64,  CTRL-S  is  synonymous 
with  the  CLR/HOME  key  (try  it), 
and  since  SpeedScript  already  uses 


CTRL-R,  several  command  keys 
which  are  slightly  less  than  mne- 
monic have  been  designated  for 
these  functions. 

SHIFT-CTRL-H  activates  the 
Hunt  feature,  SHIFT-CTRL-J  (J  is 
used  because  it's  next  to  the  H)  lets 
you  selectively  hunt  and  replace, 
and  CTRL-G  (Global)  is  for  auto- 
matically searching  and  replacing. 

Searching  for  something  is  a 
two-step  process.  First,  you  need  to 
tell  SpeedScript  what  to  search  for; 
then  you  must  trigger  the  actual 
search.  Press  SHIFT-CTRL-H.  The 
command  line  says  Hunt  for:.  Type 
in  what  you'd  like  to  search  for — 
the  search  phrase — up  to  29  charac- 
ters. SpeedScript  remembers  the 
search  phrase  until  you  change  it. 
(Incidentally,  when  you  are  typing 
on  the  command  line,  the  only  edit- 
ing key  that  works  is  INST/DEL  for 
backing  up.  SpeedScript  does  not  let 
you  enter  control  codes  or  cursor 
controls  when  you're  typing  on  the 
command  line.)  Press  RETURN 
after  you've  entered  the  search 
phrase.  If  you  press  RETURN  alone 
without  typing  anything,  the  Hunt 
command  is  canceled. 

When  you're  ready  to  search, 
press  CTRL-H  (without  the 
SHIFT).  SpeedScript  looks  for  the 
next  occurrence  of  the  search 
phrase  starling  from  the  current  cur- 
sor position.  If  you  want  to  hunt 
through  the  entire  document,  press 
CLR/HOME  twice  to  move  the  cur- 
sor to  the  very  top  before  beginning 
the  search.  Each  time  you  press 
CTRL-H,  SpeedScript  looks  for  the 
next  occurrence  of  the  search 
phrase  and  places  the  cursor  at  the 
start  of  the  phrase.  If  the  search  fails 
(if  the  search  phrase  isn't  found 
before  the  end  of  the  document), 
you'll  see  the  message  Not  Found. 

CTRL-J  (Replace)  works  to- 
gether with  CTRL-H.  After  you've 
specified  the  search  phrase  with 
SHIFT-CTRL-H,  press  SHIFT- 
CTRL-J  to  select  the  replace  phrase. 
SpeedScript  also  remembers  this  re- 
place phrase  until  you  change  it. 
You  can  press  RETURN  alone  at  the 
Replace  with:  prompt  to  select  a  null 
replace  phrase.  When  you  hunt  and 
replace,  this  deletes  the  located 
phrase.  To  search  and  replace  man- 
ually, start  by  pressing  CTRL-H. 
After  SpeedScript  has  found  the 
search  phrase,  press  CTRL-J  (with- 


out SHIFT)  if  you  want  to  replace 
the  phrase.  If  you  don't  want  to 
replace  the  phrase,  don't  press 
CTRL-J.  You  are  not  in  a  special 
search-and-replace  mode.  You're 
free  to  continue  writing  at  any  time. 

CTRL-G  links  CTRL-H  and 
CTRL-J  together.  It  first  asks  Hunt 
for:,  then  Replace  with:,  and  then 
automatically  searches  and  replaces 
throughout  the  document  starting 
at  the  cursor  position. 

A  few  hints  and  cautions:  First, 
realize  that  if  you  use'  the  as  the 
search  phrase,  SpeedScript  dutifully 
finds  the  embedded  the  in  words 
like  therefore  and  heathen.  If  you 
changed  all  occurrences  of  the  to 
cow,  these  words  would  become 
cowrefore  and  heacown.  If  you  want 
to  find  or  replace  a  single  word, 
include  a  space  as  the  first  character 
of  the  word,  since  almost  all  words 
are  preceded  by  a  space.  Naturally, 
if  you  are  replacing,  you  need  to 
include  the  space  in  the  replace 
phrase,  too.  Also,  SpeedScript  dis- 
tinguishes between  uppercase  and 
lowercase.  The  word  Meldids  does 
not  match  with  meldids.  SpeedScript 
will  not  find  a  capitalized  word  un- 
less you  capitalize  it  in  the  search 
phrase.  To  cover  all  bases,  you  will 
sometimes  need  to  make  two 
passes  when  replacing  a  word. 
Keep  these  things  in  mind  when 
using  CTRL-G  since  you  don't  have 
a  chance  to  stop  an  out-of-control 
search-and-replace. 

Storing  Your  Document 

Another  advantage  of  word  process- 
ing is  that  you  can  store  your  writ- 
ing. A  Commodore  disk,  with  170K 
of  storage  space,  can  store  80-150 
pages  of  text  as  several  document 
files.  Tapes  also  have  great  storage 
capability — but  they're  slower. 

It's  easy  to  store  a  document. 
First,  make  sure  your  cassette  or 
disk  drive  is  plugged  in  and  func- 
tioning. Insert  a  tape  or  disk  into 
the  drive.  Press  the  £8  function  key 
(SHIFT-f7).  You'll  see  the  prompt 
Save:.  Type  in  a  filename  for  your 
document.  A  filename  can  be  up  to 
16  characters  long  and  can  include 
almost  any  characters,  but  do  not 
use  question  marks  or  asterisks. 
You  cannot  use  the  same  name  for 
two  different  documents  on  a  single 
disk.  To  replace  a  document  al- 
ready on  disk  using  the  same  file- 


8est  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     1 07 


name,  precede  your  filename  with 
the  characters  @0:  or  @:.  You  can 
also  precede  the  filename  with 
either  0:  or  1:  if  you  use  a  dual  disk 
drive.  SpeedScript  cannot  access  a 
second  disk  drive  with  a  device 
number  of  9. 

After  entering  the  filename, 
answer  the  prompt  Tape  or  Disk  by 
pressing  either  the  T  or  D  key.  You 
can  cancel  the  Save  command  by 
pressing  RETURN  without  typing 
anything  else  at  either  the  Save:  or 
Tape  or  Disk  prompt. 

After  you  press  T  for  tape, 
press  RECORD  and  PLAY  simulta- 
neously on  the  cassette  drive. 
SpeedScript  begins  saving.  If  you 
press  D  for  disk,  your  file  is  stored 
relatively  quickly  {if  the  disk  is  for- 
matted and  has  room).  After  the 
Save,  SpeedScript  reports  No  errors 
if  all  is  well,  or  reads  and  reports  the 
disk  error  message  otherwise. 

The  Commodore  64  is  not  able 
to  detect  errors  during  a  tape  Save, 
so  SpeedScript  provides  a  verify 
command.  Rewind  the  tape,  press 
CTRL-V,  and  then  type  the  file- 
name. Press  T  for  tape;  press  PLAY 
on  the  recorder.  SpeedScript  will 
notify  you  if  there  is  an  error. 

Loading  A  Document 

To  recall  a  previously  saved  docu- 
ment, press  the  f7  function  key. 
Answer  the  Load:  prompt  with  the 
filename.  Insert  the  tape  or  disk 
with  the  file  you  want  to  load  and 
press  T  or  D.  Press  PLAY  if  you're 
using  tape.  SpeedScript  loads  the  file 
and  should  display  No  errors.  Oth- 
erwise, SpeedScript  reads  the  error 
channel  of  the  disk  drive  or  reports 
Load  error  for  tape. 

It's  important  to  position  of  the 
cursor  correctly  before  loading  a 
file.  SpeedScript  starts  loading  at  the 
cursor  position,  so  be  sure  to  press 
CLR/HOME  twice  or  SHIFT-CLR/ 
HOME  (Erase  All)  to  move  the  cur- 
sor to  the  start  of  text  space,  unless 
you  want  to  merge  two  documents. 
When  you  press  f7  to  load,  the  com- 
mand line  turns  green  to  warn  you 
if  the  cursor  is  not  at  the  top  of  the 
text  space. 

To  merge  two  or  more  files, 
simply  load  the  first  file,  press 
CTRL-Z  to  move  the  cursor  to  the 
end  of  the  document,  and  then  load 
the  file  you  want  to  merge.  Do  not 
place  the  cursor  somewhere  in  the 


middle  of  your  document  before 
loading.  A  Load  does  not  insert  the 
characters  coming  in  from  tape  or 
disk  into  your  old  text,  but  over- 
writes all  existing  text  after  the  cur- 
sor position.  The  last  character 
loaded  becomes  the  new  end-of- 
text  marker,  and  you  cannot  access 
any  of  your  old  text  that  may  ap- 
pear after  this  marker. 

Disk  Connmands 

Sometimes  you  forget  the  name  of  a 
file  or  need  to  scratch  or  rename  a 
file.  SpeedScript  gives  you  full  con- 
trol over  the  disk  drive.  To  view  the 
disk  directory,  press  CTRL-4.  The 
directory  will  be  displayed  on  the 
screen  without  affecting  the  text  in 
memory.  Press  any  key  to  pause 
scrolling.  Afterward,  press  RE- 
TURN to  switch  back  to  your  text. 
All  the  other  disk  commands  are 
also  accessible.  Just  press  CTRL-T 
(up  arrow);  then  type  in  a  1541  disk 
command.  You  don't  need  to  type 
PRINT#15  or  any  quotation  marks 
as  you  do  in  BASIC — just  the  actual 
command.  If  you  press  RETURN 
without  typing  a  disk  command, 
SpeedScript  displays  the  disk  status. 
It  also  displays  the  status  after  com- 
pleting a  disk  command.  Here  is  a 
quick  summary  of  disk  commands: 

nidisk  name^D  This  formats 
(NEWs)  a  disk.  You  must  format  a 
new  disk  before  using  it  for  the  first 
time.  The  disk  name  can  be  up  to  16 
characters.  The  ID  (identifier)  is  any 
two  characters.  You  must  use  a 
unique  ID  for  each  disk  you  have. 
Don't  forget  that  this  command 
erases  any  existing  data  on  a  disk. 

S'.filename  Scratches  (deletes)  a 
file  from  the  disk. 

r:newname  =  oldname 
Changes  the  name  of  file  oldname  to 
newname. 

c-.backup  filename = original 
name  Creates  a  new  file  (the  back- 
up copy)  of  an  existing  file  (original 
copy)  on  the  same  disk. 

i:  Initializes  a  disk.  This  resets 
several  disk  variables  and  should 
be  used  after  you  swap  disks  or 
when  you  have  trouble  reading  a 
disk. 

v:  Validates  a  disk.  This  recom- 
putes the  number  of  available 
blocks  and  can  sometimes  free  up 
disk  space.  Always  use  Validate  if 
you  notice  a  filename  on  the  direc- 


tory flagged  with  an  asterisk.  Vali- 
date can  take  awhile  to  finish. 

uj:  Resets  the  disk  drive  to 
power-up  state. 

Additional  Features 

SpeedScript  has  a  few  commands 
that  don't  do  much,  but  are  still  nice 
to  have.  CTRL-X  exchanges  the 
character  under  the  cursor  with  the 
character  to  the  right  of  the  cursor. 
Thus,  you  can  fix  transposition  er- 
rors with  a  single  keystroke.  CTRL- 
A  changes  the  character  under  the 
cursor  from  uppercase  to  lowercase 
or  vice  versa.  You  can  hold  down 
CTRL-A  to  continue  changing  the 
following  characters. 

Press  CTRL-B  to  change  the 
background  and  border  colors.  Each 
time  you  press  CTRL-B,  one  of  16 
different  background  colors  ap- 
pears. Press  CTRL-L  to  cycle  be- 
tween one  of  16  character  (lettering) 
colors.  The  colors  are  preserved  un- 
til you  change  them.  In  fact,  if  you 
exit  and  resave  SpeedScript,  the  pro- 
gram will  load  and  run  with  your 
color  choice  in  the  future. 

Printing 

If  you  already  think  SpeedScript  has 
plenty  of  commands,  wait  until  you 
see  what  the  printing  package  of- 
fers. SpeedScript  supports  an  array 
of  powerful  formatting  features.  It 
automatically  fits  your  text  between 
left  and  right  margins  that  you  can 
specify.  You  can  center  a  line  or 
block  it  against  the  right  margin. 
SpeedScript  skips  over  the  perfora- 
tion on  continuous -form  paper,  or  it 
can  wait  for  you  to  insert  single- 
sheet  paper.  A  line  of  text  can  be 
printed  at  the  top  of  each  page  (a 
header)  and/or  at  the  bottom  of 
each  page  (a  footer),  and  it  can  in- 
clude automatic  page  numbering, 
starting  with  whatever  number  you 
like. 

SpeedScript  can  print  on  differ- 
ent lengths  and  widths  of  paper,  and 
single-,  double-,  or  triple-spacing  (or 
any  spacing,  for  that  matter)  is  easy. 
You  can  print  a  document  up  to  the 
size  that  can  be  held  on  a  disk  or 
tape  by  linking  several  files  together 
during  printing.  You  can  print  to  the 
screen  or  to  a  sequential  disk  file 
instead  of  to  a  printer.  Other  fea- 
tures let  you  print  to  most  printers 
using  most  printer  interfaces,  and 
send  special  codes  to  the  printer  to 


108     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


control  features  like  underlining, 
boldfacing,  and  double-width  type 
(depending  on  the  printer). 

But  with  all  this  power  comes 
the  need  to  learn  additional  com- 
mands. Fortunately,  SpeedScript  sets 
most  of  these  variables  to  a  default 
state.  If  you  don't  change  these  set- 
tings, SpeedScript  assumes  a  left 
margin  of  5,  a  right-margin  position 
of  75,  no  header  or  footer,  single- 
spacing,  and  continuous-paper  page 
feeding.  To  begin  prinhng,  simply 
press  CTRL-P.  If  your  printer  is  at- 
tached, powered  on,  and  selected 
(online),  SpeedScript  begins  printing 
immediately.  To  cancel  printing, 
hold  down  the  RUN/STOP  key  un- 
til printing  stops. 

Before  printing,  be  sure  the  pa- 
per in  your  printer  is  adjusted  to 
top-of-form  (move  the  paper  perfo- 
ration just  above  the  printing  ele- 
ment). CTRL-P  assumes  a 
Commodore  printer,  so  it's  helpful 
if  your  interface  simulates  the 
modes  and  codes  of  the  Commo- 
dore 1525,  1526,orMPS-801,-802, 
or  -803  printers.  CTRL-P  prints 
with  a  device  number  of  4  and  a 
secondary  address  of  7  (uppercase/ 
lowercase  mode). 

If  CTRL-P  doesn't  work  for 
you,  try  another  variation, 
SHIFT-CTRL-P.  Answer  the 
prompt  Print  to:  Screen,  Disk,  Print- 
er? with  the  single  letter  S,  D,  or  P. 
Press  any  other  key  to  cancel  the 
command. 

If  you  press  P  for  printer, 
SpeedScript  requests  two  more  key- 
strokes. First,  answer  the  Device 
number  prompt  with  a  number  from 
4  through  7.  This  lets  you  print  to 
one  of  several  printers  addressed 
with  different  device  numbers. 
Next,  answer  the  Secondary  address 
prompt  with  a  number  from  0 
through  9. 

Non-Commodore  Printers 

The  secondary  address  is  used  on 
most  non-Commodore  printer  in- 
terfaces to  control  special  features. 
For  example,  you  can  bypass  the 
emulation  features  and  use  graph- 
ics mode  to  communicate  directly 
with  your  printer  (see  the  true 
ASCII  command  below).  Consult 
the  list  of  secondary  addresses  in 
your  printer  interface  manual. 
SpeedScript  does  not  work  properly 
with  RS-232   serial  printers  or 


interfaces. 

An  additional  note:  Some  print- 
ers and  interfaces  incorporate  an 
automatic  skip-over-perforation  fea- 
ture. The  printer  skips  to  the  next 
page  when  it  reaches  the  bottom  of  a 
page.  Since  SpeedScript  already  con- 
trols paper  feeding,  you  need  to  turn 
off  this  automatic  skip-over-perf 
feature  (usually,  by  sending  out  con- 
trol codes)  before  running  Speed- 
Script,  or  paging  won't  work 
properly.  Remember,  sometimes  the 
printer  controls  the  skip-over-perf 
feature,  sometimes  the  interface, 
and  sometimes  even  both. 

The  Commodore  64  version  of 
SpeedScript  has  been  tested  with  the 
following  printers:  Commodore 
1525  and  1526;  MPS-801,  -802,  and 
-803;  C.  Itoh  Prowriter  8510;  Epson 
MX-80;  Gemini  10-X;  Star  SG-10, 
SG-IOC,  and  SD-10;  Okimate  10 
and  20;  Okidata  82  and  92;  and 
Hush-80  CD.  SpeedScript  has  also 
been  tested  with  these  printer  inter- 
faces: Cardco  A/B/G+  and  G  Wiz, 
Tymac  Connection,  Xetec,  Turbo- 
Print,  and  MW-350.  SpeedScript 
should  work  even  if  your  printer  or 
interface  is  not  on  this  list.  These 
are  just  the  ones  that  have  been 
tested. 

Be  sure  your  printer  or  inter- 
face supplies  its  own  linefeeds. 
Again,  consult  your  manuals  and 
insure  that  either  your  printer  or 
interface  (but  not  both)  supplies  an 
automatic  linefeed  after  carriage  re- 
turn. To  test  this,  print  a  small  sam- 
ple of  text  with  CTRL-P.  Since  the 
default  is  single-spacing,  you 
should  not  see  double-spacing,  nor 
should  all  printing  appear  on  the 
same  line.  If  you  still  aren't  getting 
linefeeds,  use  the  linefeed  com- 
mand discussed  below. 

Printing  To  Screen  And  DIsIc 

SHIFT-CTRL-P  prints  to  the  screen 
when  you  press  S.  The  screen  col- 
ors change  to  white  letters  on  a 
black  background,  and  what  ap- 
pears on  the  screen  is  exactly  what 
would  print  on  the  printer.  It  takes 
two  screen  lines  to  hold  one  80- 
column  printed  line,  of  course.  If 
you  use  double-spacing  (see  be- 
low), it's  much  easier  to  see  how 
each  line  is  printed.  With  this 
screen  preview,  you  can  see  where 
lines  and  pages  break.  To  freeze 
printing,  hold  down  either  of  the 


SHIFT  keys,  or  engage  SHIFT 
LOCK.  The  border  color  changes  to 
white  while  SHIFT  is  held  down. 
When  printing  is  finished,  press 
any  key  to  return  to  editing. 

SHIFT-CTRL-P  prints  to  a  disk 
file  when  you  press  D.  Enter  the 
filename  when  it's  requested. 
SpeedScript  sends  out  all  printer 
information  to  a  sequential  file.  You 
can  use  other  programs  to  process 
this  formatted  file.  Try  this  simple 
example: 

10  OPEN  1,4 

20  OPEN  2,S,S," filename" 

30  GET#2,A$:SS  =  ST:  PRINT#1,A$;:  IF 

SS  =  0  THEN  30 
40  PRINT#1:  CLOSEl 
50  CLOSE2 

This  program  dumps  the  disk 
file  specified  by  the  filename  in  line 
20  to  any  printer.  You  can  use  it  to 
print  SpeedScript  files  (produced 
with  SHIFT-CTRL-P)  on  another 
Commodore  computer  and  printer 
without  running  SpeedScript. 
Change  line  10  to  OPEN  1,2,0, 
CHR$(6)  to  dump  the  file  to  a  300- 
baud  modem  or  RS-232  printer,  or 
OPEN  1,3  to  display  it  on  the 
screen. 

Formatting  Commands 

The  print-formatting  commands 
must  be  distinguished  from  normal 
text,  so  they  appear  onscreen  in 
reverse  field  with  the  text  and  back- 
ground colors  switched.  You  enter 
these  reverse- video  letters  by  press- 
ing CTRL-£  (pound  sign)  or  CTRL- 
3,  which  is  easier  to  type  with  one 
hand.  Answer  the  prompt  Enter  for- 
mat key:  by  pressing  a  single  key. 
This  key  is  inserted  into  text  in 
reverse  video.  All  lettered  printer 
commands  should  be  entered  in 
lowercase  (unshifted).  During 
printing,  SpeedScript  treats  these 
characters  as  printing  commands. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  printing 
commands,  which  will  be  called 
stage  1  and  stage  2.  Stage  1  com- 
mands usually  control  variables 
such  as  left  margin  and  right  mar- 
gin. Most  are  followed  by  a  num- 
ber, with  no  space  between  the 
command  and  the  number.  Stage  1 
commands  are  executed  before  a 
line  is  printed. 

Stage  2  commands,  like  center- 
ing and  underlining,  are  executed 
while  the  line  is  being  printed. 
Usually,  stage  1  commands  must  be 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     1 09 


on  a  line  of  their  own,  although  you 
can  group  several  stage  1  com- 
mands together  on  a  line.  Stage  2 
commands  are  by  nature  embedded 
within  a  line  of  text.  A  sample  stage 
1  line  could  look  like  this: 

II10D50Q2 

Embedded  stage  2  commands  look 
like  this: 

BThls  line  Is  centered. 4- 
This  lsClunderllninglQ.4- 

Stage  1  Commands 

1  Left  margin.  Follow  with  a 
number  from  0  to  255.  Use  0  for  no 
margin.  Defaults  to  5.  See  Figure  2 
for  an  illustration  of  margin 
settings. 

r  Right  margin  position,  a 
number  from  1  to  255.  Defaults  to 
75.  Be  sure  the  right-margin  value 
is  greater  than  the  left-margin  val- 
ue, or  SpeedScript  will  become  ex- 
tremely confused.  Some  printer 
interfaces  force  a  certain  printing 
width,  usually  80  characters  wide. 
You'll  need  to  disable  this  in  order 
to  permit  SpeedScript  to  print  lines 
longer  than  80  characters. 

I  Top  margin.  The  position 
at  which  the  first  line  of  text  is 
printed,  relative  to  the  top  of  the 
page.  Defaults  to  5.  The  header  (if 
any)  is  always  printed  on  the  first 
line  of  the  page,  before  the  first  line 
of  text. 

b  Bottom  margin.  The  line  at 
which  printing  stops  before  con- 
tinuing to  the  next  page.  Standard 
8V2  X  11-inch  paper  has  66  lines 
on  most  printers  (6  vertical  lines  of 
text  per  inch  is  standard  for  Com- 
modore printers).  Bottom  margin 
defaults  to  the  fifty-eighth  line.  The 
footer  (if  any)  is  always  printed  on 
the  last  line  of  the  page,  after  the 
last  line  of  text. 

p  Page  length.  Defaults  to 
66.  If  your  printer  does  not  print  six 
lines  per  inch,  multiply  lines-per- 
inch  by  1 1  to  get  the  page  length. 
European  paper  is  usually  longer 
than  American  paper — IP/a  or  12 
inches.  Try  a  page  length  of  69  or 
72. 

s  Spacing.  Defaults  to  single- 
spacing.  Follow  with  a  number 
from  1  to  255.  Use  1  for  single- 
spacing,  2  for  double-spacing,  and 
3  for  triple-spacing. 

@      Start  numbering  at  page 


Figure  2:  Graphic  Representation  Of  Margin  Settings 

Values  shov^n  are  default  settings 


Header 

rannon/SpeedScript/* 


Right  Marfin 

i  FMter 

rannon/SpeedScripl/* 

79 


Figure  3:  Quick  Reference  Chart  Format  (Printer 
Commands) 

Enter  these  commands  with  CTRL-£  or  CTRL-3: 


CoMMano   Description 

Default 

Command    Desc  npt  ion 

Default 

Q  Tru*    ASCII 

Off 

□ 

N»x-t    pag* 

in  Bo-tton   nargin 

58 

D 

Pag*    length 

86 

D 

Right    nargin 

75 

Qj  Edge    righl 

B 

Spac  ing 

1 

KJ   FooTvr 

D 

Top    nargin 

9 

El  Link    f il»w 

□ 

Under I ine 

El  H»ad»r 

Q 

□ 

Colunns    across 

80 

m 

Initial    page    u 

1 

MM  Laft   nargin 

5 

a 

Skip    pages 

^J  Margin    rel«asa 

□ 

Print    page   M 

CxamplesI 


QQ  SpeedScript/Q  4-        Centered    Header    with    page    nunber 
01807802^ 

D 91 SpeedScript. ^ 

K   neM    format  I    sdriveSIf ilenaM* 


Left    nargin    18,     right   nargin    78, 
double    spac  ing . 

Goto    and    continue    printing    with 
f  ilenane    "SpeedScript." 


1 1 0    Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


number  given.  Page  numbering 
normally  starts  with  1. 

?  Disables  printing  until  se- 
lected page  number  is  reached.  For 
example,  a  value  of  3  would  start 
printing  the  third  page  of  your  doc- 
ument. Normally,  SpeedScript  starts 
printing  with  the  first  page. 

X  Sets  the  page  width,  in  col- 
umns {think  a  cross).  Defaults  to  80. 
You  need  to  change  this  for  the  sake 
of  the  centering  command  if  you 
are  printing  in  double-width  or 
condensed  type,  or  if  you're  using  a 
40-column  or  wide-carriage  printer. 

n  Forced  paging.  Normally, 
SpeedScript  prints  the  footer  and 
moves  on  to  the  next  page  only 
when  it  has  finished  a  page,  but  you 
can  force  it  to  continue  to  the  next 
page  by  issuing  this  command.  It 
requires  no  numbers. 

m  Margin  release.  Disables 
the  left  margin  for  the  next  printed 
line.  Remember  that  this  executes 
before  the  line  is  printed. 

a  True  ASCII.  Every  charac- 
ter is  assigned  a  number  in  the 
ASCII  (American  Standard  Code 
for  Information  Interchange)  char- 
acter set.  Most  printers  use  this  true 
ASCII  standard,  but  Commodore 
printers  exchange  the  values  for  up- 
percase and  lowercase  to  match 
Commodore's  own  variation  of 
ASCII.  Some  printer  interfaces  do 
not  translate  Commodore  ASCII 
into  true  ASCII,  so  you  need  to  use 
this  command  to  tell  SpeedScript  to 
translate.  Also,  you  will  sometimes 
want  to  disable  your  interface's  em- 
ulation mode  intentionally  in  order 
to  control  special  printer  features 
that  would  otherwise  be  rejected  by 
emulation.  Place  this  command  as 
the  first  character  in  your  docu- 
ment, even  before  the  header  and 
footer  definitions.  Don't  follow  it 
with  a  number. 

Since,  in  effect,  the  true  ASCII 
command  changes  the  case  of  all 
letters,  you  can  type  something  in 
lowercase  and  use  true  ASCII  to 
make  it  come  out  in  uppercase. 

w  Page  wait.  Like  the  true 
ASCII  command,  this  one  should 
be  placed  at  the  beginning  of  your 
document  before  any  text.  With 
page  wait  turned  on,  SpeedScript 
prompts  you  to  Insert  next  sheet, 
press  RETURN  when  each  page  is 
finished  printing.  Insert  the  next 
sheet,  line  it  up  with  the  printhead. 


and  then  press  RETURN  to  contin- 
ue. Page  wait  is  ignored  during  disk 
or  screen  output. 

j  Select  automatic  linefeeds 
after  carriage  return.  Like  a  and  w, 
this  command  must  be  placed  before 
any  text.  Don't  use  this  command  to 
achieve  double-spacing,  but  only  if 
all  text  prints  on  the  same  line. 

i  Information.  This  works 
like  REM  in  BASIC.  You  follow  the 
command  with  a  line  of  text,  up  to 
255  characters,  ending  in  a  return 
mark.  This  line  will  be  ignored  dur- 
ing printing;  it's  handy  for  making 
notes  to  yourself  such  as  the  file- 
name of  the  document. 

h  Header  define  and  enable. 
The  header  must  be  a  single  line  of 
text  ending  with  a  return  mark  (up 
to  254  characters).  The  header 
prints  on  the  first  line  of  each  page. 
You  can  include  stage  2  commands 
such  as  centering  and  page  num- 
bering in  a  header.  You  can  use  a 
header  by  itself  without  a  footer. 
The  header  and  footer  should  be 
defined  at  the  top  of  your  docu- 
ment, before  any  text.  If  you  want 
to  prevent  the  header  from  printing 
on  the  first  page,  put  a  return  mark 
by  itself  at  the  top  of  your  docu- 
ment before  the  header  definition. 

f  Footer  define  and  enable. 
The  footer  must  be  a  single  line  of 
text  ending  in  a  return  mark  (up  to 
254  characters).  The  footer  prints 
on  the  last  line  of  each  page.  As 
with  the  header,  you  can  include 
stage  2  printing  commands,  and 
you  don't  need  to  set  the  header  to 
use  a  footer. 

g  Go  to  (link)  next  file.  Put 
this  command  as  the  last  line  in 
your  document.  Follow  the  com- 
mand with  the  letter  D  for  disk  or  T 
for  tape,  then  a  colon  (:),  and  final- 
ly, the  name  of  the  file  to  print  next. 
After  the  text  in  memory  is  printed, 
the  link  command  loads  the  next 
file  into  memory.  You  can  continue 
linking  in  successive  files,  but  don't 
include  a  link  in  the  last  file.  Before 
you  start  printing  a  linked  file, 
make  sure  the  first  of  the  linked 
files  is  in  memory.  When  printing  is 
finished,  the  last  file  linked  to  will 
be  in  memory. 

Stage  2  Commands 

These  commands  either  precede  a 
line  of  text  or  are  embedded  within 
one. 


c  Centering.  Put  this  at  the 
beginning  of  a  line  you  want  to 
center.  This  will  center  only  one 
line,  ending  in  a  return  mark.  Re- 
peat this  command  at  the  beginning 
of  every  line  you  want  centered. 
Centering  uses  the  page-width  set- 
ting (see  above)  to  center  the  line 
properly.  To  center  a  double-width 
line,  either  set  the  page  width  to  40 
or  pad  out  the  rest  of  the  line  with 
an  equal  number  of  spaces.  If  you 
use  double-width,  remember  that 
the  spaces  preceding  the  centered 
text  will  be  double-wide  spaces. 

e  Edge  right.  This  command 
will  cause  a  line  to  be  aligned  with 
the  right  margin  when  it  is  printed. 
That  is,  spaces  v^ill  be  inserted  in 
front  of  the  line  so  that  the  last 
character  in  the  line  will  be  printed 
at  the  right  margin.  Place  the  com- 
mand at  the  beginning  of  the  line 
you  want  aligned;  it  will  only  affect 
one  line  at  a  time,  each  ending  with 
a  return  mark.  Repeat  this  com- 
mand at  the  beginning  of  every  line 
you  want  aligned  to  the  right.  Note 
that  this  is  not  the  same  as  right 
justification — a  feature  found  on 
some  word  processors  that  adjusts 
printing  to  align  both  the  left  and 
right  margins — since  the  edge-right 
command  aligns  only  one  line,  and 
only  at  the  right  margin.  SpeedScript 
has  no  right-justification  feature. 

#  When  SpeedScript  encoun- 
ters this  command,  it  prints  the  cur- 
rent page  number.  You  usually 
embed  this  within  a  header  or  footer. 

u  A  simple  form  of  underlin- 
ing. It  does  not  work  on  Commo- 
dore printers,  but  only  on  printers 
that  recognize  CHR${8)  as  a  back- 
space and  CHR$(95)  as  an  under- 
line character.  Underlining  works 
on  spaces,  too.  Use  the  first  u  to 
start  underlining  and  another  one 
to  turn  off  underlining. 

Fonts  And  Styles 

Most  dot-matrix  printers  are  capa- 
ble of  more  than  just  printing  text  at 
ten  characters  per  inch.  The  Com- 
modore MPS-801  can  print  in  dou- 
ble-width and  reverse  field.  Some 
printers  have  several  character  sets, 
with  italic  and  foreign  language 
characters.  Most  can  print  in 
double-width  (40  characters  per 
line),  condensed  (132  characters 
per  line),  and  in  either  pica  or  elite. 
Other  features  include  programma- 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     1 1 1 


ble  characters,  programmable  tab 
stops,  and  graphics  modes.  Many 
word  processors  customize  them- 
selves to  a  particular  printer,  but 
SpeedScript  was  purposely  designed 
not  to  be  printer-specific.  Instead, 
SpeedScript  lets  you  define  your 
own  stage  2  printing  commands. 

You  define  a  programmable 
printkey  by  choosing  any  character 
that  is  not  already  used  for  other 
printer  commands.  The  entire  up- 
percase alphabet  is  available  for 
printkeys,  and  you  can  choose  let- 
ters that  are  related  to  their  function 
(like  D  for  double-width).  You  enter 
these  commands  like  printer  com- 
mands, by  first  pressing  CTRL-3. 

To  define  a  printkey,  just  press 
CTRL-3,  then  the  key  you  want  to 
assign  as  the  printkey,  then  an 
equal  sign  {  =  ),  and  finally  the 
ASCII  value  to  be  substituted  for 
the  printkey  during  printing.  For 
example,  to  define  the  +  key  as  the 
letter  z,  you  first  look  up  the  ASCII 
value  of  the  letter  z  (in  either  your 
printer  manual  or  user's  manual). 
The  ASCII  value  of  the  letter  z  is  90, 
so  the  definition  is  E3  =  904- 

Now,  anywhere  you  want  to  print 
the  letter  z,  substitute  the  printkey: 

GadDoolcs!  The  Doo  isDany)^- 

This  will  appear  on  paper  as 
Gadzooks!  The  zoo  is  zany! 

More  practically,  look  up  the 
value  of  reverse-on  and  reverse-off. 
Reverse-on,  a  value  of  18,  prints  all 
text  in  reverse  video  until  canceled 
by  reverse-off  (a  value  of  146)  or  a 
carriage  return.  So,  define  SHIFT-R 
as  18  and  SHIFT-O  as  146.  Any- 
where you  want  to  print  a  word  in 
reverse,  bracket  the  word  with 
printkey  R  and  printkey  O. 

You  can  similarly  define  what- 
ever codes  your  printer  uses  for  fea- 
tures like  double-width  or 
emphasized  mode.  For  your 
convenience,  four  of  the  printkeys 
are  predefined,  though  you  can 
change  them.  Printkey  1  is  defined 
as  a  27,  the  value  of  the  ESCape 
code  used  to  precede  many  two- 
character  printer  commands.  (With 
some  printer  interfaces,  you  must 
send  two  ESCape  codes  to  bypass 
the  interface's  emulation.)  For  ex- 
ample,   the    Epson   command    for 


double  strike  is  ESC-G.  You  can 
select  it  in  SpeedScript  with 

Ik 

Printkey  2,  a  value  of  14,  goes 
into  double-width  mode  on  most 
printers,  and  printkey  3,  a  value  of 
15,  turns  off  double-width  on  some 
printers  and  selects  condensed 
mode  on  others.  Printkey  4  is  de- 
fined as  18,  which  selects  reverse 
field  with  Commodore  printers 
(and  on  some  graphics  interfaces  in 
emulation  mode)  or  condensed 
mode  on  some  other  printers. 

With  so  many  codes  available, 
you  can  even  design  custom  logos 
and  symbols  using  your  printer's 
graphics  mode.  For  example,  on  the 
1525/MPS-801,  you  can  draw  a 
box  (perhaps  for  a  checklist)  by  first 
setting  the  appropriate  codes: 

[BEEEDloothpaste  4- 

Then  display  the  box  with  text  by 
typing 

D=B  0=25  B=255D=  193  4- 

This  appears  on  paper  as 

D  Toothpaste 

Keep  one  thing  in  mind  about 
printkeys.  SpeedScript  always  as- 
sumes it  is  printing  to  a  rather 
dumb,  featureless  printer,  the  least 
common  denominator.  SpeedScript 
doesn't  understand  the  intent  of  a 
printkey;  it  just  sends  its  value  out. 
So  if  you  make  one  word  within  a 
line  double-width,  it  may  make  the 
line  overflow  the  specified  right 
margin.  There's  no  way  for  Speed- 
Script  to  include  built-in  font  and 
type-style  codes  without  being  cus- 
tomized for  a  particular  printer, 
since  no  set  of  codes  is  universal  to 
all  printers. 

SpeedScript  Mastery 

It  may  take  you  awhile  to  fully  mas- 
ter SpeedScript,  but  as  you  do  you'll 
discover  many  ways  to  use  the  edit- 
ing and  formatting  commands.  For 
example,  there  is  a  simple  way  to 
simulate  tab  stops,  say,  for  a  colum- 
nar table.  Just  type  a  period  at  every 
tab-stop  position.  Erase  the  line; 
then  restore  it  multiple  times. 
When  you  are  filling  in  the  table. 


just  use  word-left/word-right  to 
jump  quickly  between  the  periods. 
Or  you  can  use  the  programmable 
printkeys  to  embed  your  printer's 
own  commands  for  setting  and 
jumping  to  tab  stops. 

SpeedScript  can  also  be  used  as 
a  simple  database  manager.  Type  in 
the  information  you  need;  then 
store  it  as  a  SpeedScript  document. 
The  search  feature  lets  you  quickly 
find  information,  especially  if  you 
use  graphics  characters  to  flag  key 
lines.  You  can  search  for  the  graph- 
ics characters  and  quickly  skip  from 
field  to  field. 

You  don't  have  to  change  or 
define  printer  commands  every 
time  you  write.  Just  save  these  defi- 
nitions as  a  small  text  file,  and  load 
this  file  each  time  you  write.  You 
can  create  many  custom  definition 
files  and  have  them  ready  to  use  on 
disk.  You  can  create  customized 
"fill  in  the  blank"  letters.  Just  type 
the  letter,  and  everywhere  you'll 
need  to  insert  something,  substitute 
a  graphics  symbol.  When  you're 
ready  to  customize  the  letter,  just 
hunt  for  each  graphics  symbol  and 
insert  the  specific  information. 

SpeedScript  does  not  work  with 
any  80-column  video  boards  or  soft- 
ware 80-column  emulators.  Speed- 
Script  also  wipes  out  most  kinds  of 
resident  (RAM-loaded)  software,  in- 
cluding most  software-simulated 
printer  drivers.  However,  you  can 
print  to  disk  using  SHIFT-CTRL-P, 
and  then  dump  the  disk  file  to  the 
printer  from  BASIC. 

File  Compatibility 

SpeedScript  documents  are  stored  as 
program  files  (PRO  type  on  disk). 
Naturally,  you  can't  load  and  run  a 
SpeedScript  file  from  BASIC.  The 
characters  are  stored  in  their  screen 
code  (POKE)  equivalents.  Several 
commercial  word  processors  store 
text  similarly,  including  WordPro 
3+  and  PaperClip.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  two  commercial  spelling 
checkers  designed  for  WordPro  also 
work  with  SpeedScript:  SpellRight 
Plus  (from  Professional  Software) 
and  SpellPro  64  (from  Pro-Line 
Software).  © 


112     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Fontmaker 

For  Commodore  64 
SpeedScript 


Special  fonts  add  character  to  any 
screen  display.  This  article  shows 
how  to  use  custom  character  sets  with 
any  version  3.0  or  higher  of  Commo- 
dore 64  SpeedScript. 


Writing  with  a  word  processor 
often  means  staring  for  hours  at  a 
video  screen.  For  word  processing, 
screen  clarity  is  especially  vital.  It's 
best  to  have  a  good-quality  color  or 
monochrome  monitor,  but  a  clear, 
readable  character  set  helps,  too. 
Commodore's  built-in  character  set 
works  well  and  is  especially  de- 
signed for  the  low  resolution  of  the 
average  TV.  However,  it  can  be  im- 
proved. Besides,  it's  just  plain  fun 
to  use  your  own  custom  character 
set.  A  custom  font  personalizes 
your  computer  and  sets  it  apart 
from  the  crowd.  There  are  many 
font  editor  programs  to  design 
character  sets  for  use  with  BASIC, 
but  until  now  there  was  no  way  to 
use  them  with  SpeedScript. 

To  use  the  program  LOAD  and 
RUN  "Fontmaker  Boot,"  which 
configures  the  memory  for  "Font- 
maker,"the  actual  workhorse. 

Fontmaker  only  installs  a  char- 
acter set  that  has  been  previously 
created;  it  has  no  provisions  for  cre- 
ating the  custom  characters.  You 
can  easily  define  your  own  fonts 
with  a  character  editor  such  as 
"Ultrafont+". 

When  you  run  Fontmaker,  it 
prompts  you  for  the  name  of  the 
character  set  you'd  like  to  use.  By 
default,  the  cursor  blinks  on  the 
filename  SPEED.SET.  If  you'd  like 
to  use  a  font  with  that  name,  just 
press  RETURN.  Otherwise,  type  in 


Chorles  Brannon 

a  new  name,  overwriting  SPEED. 
SET.  If  you  want  to  run  SpeedScript 
without  a  custom  set,  just  type  X  at 
the  prompt  (you  don't  need  to  erase 
SPEED.SET;  just  enter  an  X). 

The  character  set  you've  previ- 
ously created  with  a  font  editor  pro- 
gram must  be  on  the  same  disk  as 
the  SpeedScript  program.  Font- 
maker  looks  for  SpeedScript  under 
the  filename  SS.  Either  insert  a  dif- 
ferent filename  in  line  140  of  Font- 
maker  or  rename  your  copy  of 
SpeedScript  to  SS.  Fontmaker  loads 
in  SpeedScript,  bumps  up  the  start  of 
text  space  (reducing  available  mem- 
ory by  about  1 1 K),  loads  the  charac- 
ter set  into  that  gap,  switches  the 
screen  to  the  new  character  set, 
then  runs  SpeedScript. 

It's  Only  Temporary 

Fontmaker  does  not  permanently 
change  SpeedScript  unless  you  re- 
save  the  word  processor  at  this 
point  (not  recommended).  In  other 
words,  Fontmaker  installs  the  cus- 
tom character  set  only  for  the  cur- 
rent session.  If  you  exit  SpeedScript 
by  pressing  the  RESTORE  key,  type 
POKE  53272,26  to  restore  the  set 
before  you  type  RUN  to  reenter 
SpeedScript. 

When  designing  your  custom 
character  set,  remember  that  verh- 
cal  lines  appear  thinner  and  fuzzier 
than  horizontal  lines.  Notice  that 
every  vertical  line  is  doubled  on  the 
normal  Commodore  character  set, 
making  characters  appear  bold. 
You'll  probably  want  to  follow  the 
same  rule  when  designing  your 
own  sets.  This  is  not  a  problem  wdth 
crisp  monochrome  monitors.  You 
can  use  the  full  8X8  resolution  of 
the  character  grid  to  design  clean. 


well-formed  characters. 

Another  guideline  for  readabili- 
ty is  that  uppercase  characters  are  of 
uniform  height.  All  lowercase  char- 
acters are  the  same  height,  except 
for  tall  characters  such  as  b,  d,  f,  h,  i, 
k,  1,  and  t,  which  are  the  same  height 
as  uppercase  letters.  Normally  you'll 
keep  the  rightmost  column  and  the 
lowest  row  blank  to  keep  characters 
from  running  into  each  other  and  to 
reserve  room  for  the  lowercase  de- 
scenders on  the  g,  j,  p,  q,  and  y. 
Naturally,  an  exception  is  when  you 
design  cursive  or  script  characters 
that  should  link  together. 

You'll  also  want  to  customize 
the  punctuation  marks  and  sym- 
bols. SpeedScript  uses  the  back- 
arrow  symbol  as  the  carriage-return 
mark.  If  you  don't  like  to  see  return- 
marks,  just  blank  out  that  character. 
You  can  put  a  tiny  dot  in  the 
SHIFT-SPACE  character  to  distin- 
guish it  from  a  real  space.  It  can  also 
be  convenient  to  define  some  of  the 
graphics  characters  to  their  printing 
equivalent  on  the  printer.  For  ex- 
ample, some  graphics  characters 
print  as  italic  or  foreign -language 
characters.  Just  edit  the  graphics 
characters  to  look  like  their  printing 
equivalents. 

You  can  also  create  your  own 
custom  cursor.  SpeedScript's  cursor 
just  alternates  between  the  normal 
and  reverse-video  version  of  what- 
ever character  it's  sitting  on.  The 
last  128  characters  of  a  character  set 
are  the  reverse-video  ones.  If  you 
want  an  underline  cursor,  just  copy 
the  normal  set  down  to  the  reverse- 
video  area  and  draw  a  line  through 
the  bottom  row  of  every  character. 
Special  characters  can  even  have  a 
unique  cursor.  ® 


Best  of  COMPUTEl  and  Gazette     1 1 3 


Mail  Merge 

For  SpeedScript 


This  productivity  booster  lets  you 
produce  personalized  form  letters  by 
merging  a  SpeedScript  word  process- 
ing document  with  a  file  of  names  and 
addresses.  A  disk  drive  and  printer 
are  required. 


Many  word  processors  include  a 
powerful  feature  known  as  mail 
merge,  which  allows  you  to  create 
personalized  form  letters.  If  you're 
not  familiar  with  a  mail  merge, 
here's  how  it  works.  First  you  create 
a  file  containing  names  and  ad- 
dresses (if  you  operate  a  business  or 
conduct  lots  of  correspondence, 
you  probably  have  such  a  file  al- 
ready). Then  you  write  a  form  letter 
with  the  word  processor,  leaving 
special  markers  in  the  places  where 
each  person's  name  and  address 
will  appear.  To  perform  the  mail 
merge,  you  tell  the  word  processor 
which  document  and  address  file  to 
use.  The  program  automatically 
prints  out  a  personalized  letter  for 
each  person  in  the  file,  filling  in  the 
special  blank  spaces  with  each  per- 
son's name  and  address.  Although 
the  technique  is  most  often  used  to 
print  form  letters,  you  can  use  the 
same  feature  to  merge  any  sort  of 
data  into  a  standard  form  document. 
SpeedScript  doesn't  have  a  mail 
merge  feature,  but  you  can  accom- 
plish the  same  goal  with  this  pro- 
gram, "Mail  Merge."  With  it,  you 
can  create  computer-generated  mail 
with  a  personal  touch.  You'll  also  be 
relieved  of  much  of  the  tedium  of 
preparing  personalized  letters  for 
your  club,  church,  or  business. 

How  To  Use  The  Program 

Before  you  can  use  Mail  Merge,  it's 
necessary  to  understand  some  basic 


Jerry  Starling 

facts  about  how  it  works.  To  pro- 
duce personalized  form  letters. 
Mail  Merge  reads  two  sequential 
files.  The  first  file  is  a  document 
created  with  SpeedScript  and  the 
second  is  created  by  an  address  or 
database  program.  I  use  a  commer- 
cial database  program,  but  many 
programs  can  do  the  job.  If  you 
don't  have  a  database  program. 
Mail  Merge  can  also  create  the  ad- 
dress file  (however,  it  does  not  have 
the  ability  to  edit  an  existing  ad- 
dress file).  Another  option  is  to  use 
SpeedScript  itself  to  create  the  ad- 
dress file:  Simply  type  in  the  data 
using  the  format  described  below; 
then  print  the  file  to  disk  (note  that 
this  file  must  be  printed,  not  saved, 
to  disk).  If  you  also  save  the  address 
file  from  SpeedScript  (using  a  differ- 
ent filename),  you'll  have  the  abili- 
ty to  edit  the  file. 

The  address  file,  of  course, 
contains  several  items  of  infor- 
mation for  each  person.  In  database 
terminology,  the  term  record  is  used 
to  refer  to  each  set  of  information 
(one  person's  name,  address,  city, 
state,  zip  code,  and  so  on).  Each 
item  within  the  record  is  called  a 
field.  In  a  simple  address  file,  the 
first  field  in  the  record  might  con- 
tain the  person's  salutation  (Ms., 
Mr.,  Dr.,  or  whatever);  the  second 
field  could  contain  the  person's 
name;  the  third,  the  person's  street 
address;  and  so  forth. 

Mail  Merge  expects  the  ad- 
dress file  to  have  a  very  simple 
record  and  field  structure.  Each 
field  within  the  record  ends  with  a 
carriage  return  (character  13)  and 
the  end  of  each  record  is  marked 
with  an  extra  carriage  return.  For 
instance,  say  that  your  address  file 
contains   records   consisting   of   a 


name,  address,  and  city  for  each 
person.  In  each  record,  a  single  car- 
riage return  appears  after  the  name 
and  address,  while  two  carriage  re- 
turns appear  after  the  city  to  mark 
the  end  of  the  record.  The  complete 
file  consists  of  a  number  of  these 
records  in  sequence. 

The  form  letter  is  written  with 
SpeedScript  and  printed  (not  saved) 
to  disk  with  SpeedScript's  SHIFT- 
CTRL-P  command.  If  you  have 
some  other  file  that  creates  sequen- 
tial files,  you  can  probably  use 
those  files  with  Mail  Merge,  as  well. 

The  form  letter  must  include 
special  markers  to  show  Mail 
Merge  where  to  insert  information 
from  the  address  file.  Each  such 
marker  is  a  number  within  square 
brackets  ([  ]).  When  Mail  Merge 
finds  a  number  in  square  brackets, 
it  reads  a  field  from  the  address  file. 
The  number  inside  the  brackets 
tells  Mail  Merge  which  field  from 
the  current  record  to  print  at  that 
place  in  the  form  letter.  Thus,  at 
various  places  in  the  letter  you 
might  have  the  markers  [1]  and  [3]. 
The  marker  [1]  tells  Mail  Merge  to 
insert  field  1  at  that  place  in  the 
letter.  The  marker  [3]  tells  the  pro- 
gram to  insert  field  3  at  the  place 
where  that  marker  appears.  Note 
that  the  markers  can  appear  in  any 
order  (marker  [3]  can  appear  before 
or  after  marker  [1],  and  so  on)  and 
you  can  use  the  same  marker  as 
often  as  you  want.  For  instance, 
you  might  want  to  print  the  per- 
son's name  at  several  different 
places  in  the  letter. 

Another  special  indicator  must 
appear  as  the  very  first  line  in  the 
form  letter.  This  marker  tells  Mail 
Merge  how  many  fields  each  record 
contains.  It  consists  of  a  left  square 


1 1 4     Best  of  COMPUTEl  and  Gazette 


bracket  followed  by  the  number  of 
fields  and  a  lowercase  v  character. 
For  example,  this  indicator  tells 
Mail  Merge  that  each  record  in  the 
address  file  contains  five  fields: 

[5v 

Mail  Merge  ignores  everything 
in  the  document  which  appears 
before  this  indicator,  so  it  also  serves 
as  a  "start  printing"  command  for 
the  program.  Mail  Merge  stores  this 
value  in  a  string  array  which  it 
DIMensions  with  25  elements  in 
line  120.  This  means  you  can  merge 
an  address  file  whose  records  con- 
tain as  many  as  25  fields.  To  merge 
files  with  more  fields,  increase  the 
value  25  In  line  120  as  needed. 

A  Walk  Through 

Here's  a  brief  description  of  the 
prompts  you  encounter  when  using 
Mail  Merge. 

•  Enter  name  of  letter  file.  At  this 
prompt.  Mail  Merge  expects  you  to 
enter  the  name  of  the  SpeedScripl 
document  (form  letter)  or  other  se- 
quential form  file  which  you  previ- 
ously printed  to  disk. 

•  Enter  name  of  list  file.  Enter  the 
name  of  the  address  file.  If  you 
have  not  already  created  an  address 
file,  enter  a  new  filename  for  the  file 
you  are  about  to  create. 

•  Create  file  or  input  from  disk?  Enter 
C  to  create  a  new  address  file  or  I  to 
use  a  file  that  already  exists.  If  you 
use  an  existing  file,  you'll  skip 
ahead  to  the  Enter  dale  prompt  {see 
below). 

•  How  many  variables  per  letter?  This 
prompt  appears  only  when  you  are 
creating  a  new  address  file.  When  it 
creates  the  file.  Mail  Merge  needs  to 
know  how  many  fields  (variables) 
are  contained  in  a  record.  Enter  that 
number  (it  should  be  the  same  as 
the  number  in  the  indicator  at  the 
beginning  of  the  SpeedScript  form 
letter). 

•  Enter  name  for  variable.  This  name 
is  used  as  a  prompt  while  you  are 
entering  address  file  data.  It  will  be 
repeated  for  each  of  the  fields  in  the 
record. 

•  Enter  END  when  all  entries  are 
entered.  This  is  the  data  entry  por- 
tion of  Mail  Merge.  The  program 
prompts  you  with  the  names  you 
entered  in  the  last  step,  storing  the 
data  you  enter  for  the  fields  in  each 


Programming  Notes 

Here's  a  description  of  the  various  sections  of  Mail  Merge. 

Lines  Notes 

lOO-IIO  Opening  screen  display;  set  maximum  size  for  arrays  for  number  document 

lines  and  number  variables  in  list  file. 

120  Dimension  arrays;  read  data  for  date  conversion  routine. 

130-160  Input  file  information. 

170-270  Create  list  file  (optional). 

280-300  Date  formatting. 

330-380  Read  number  of  variables  list  file  will  contain. 

390-500  Read  document  from;  flag  lines  containing  variables. 

510-530  Select  continuous  or  single  sheet  paper  feed. 

540-550  Request  list  file  disk. 

560  Open  list  file  and  printer. 

570  Read  a  variable  set  from  the  list  file;  initialize  the  document  line  counter. 

580  Check  for  a  variable  flag  in  the  document  line, 

590  If  no  variable  is  found,  print  the  line  as  is. 

600-690  If  a  variable  is  found  in  the  document  line,  insert  variables  and  print  the  line, 

700  Update  document  line  counter;  process  next  line. 

710-720  End  of  document  routine  (entered  from  line  600),  Eject  page  or  wait  for  new 

sheet.  Check  for  end  of  job.  If  not  at  end  of  job,  read  next  variable  set  for 

next  list  file. 

770-780  Wail  for  RETURN  from  keyboard, 

790-810  Check  for  errors  in  input. 

820-840  Data  for  date  conversion  routine. 

850-880  Input  list  file  variable  set  and  print  to  screen. 

890-910  Break  down  date  elements  from  M/D/Y  format. 

920-980  Error  message  for  improper  document  preparation. 


record.  When  you've  finished  enter- 
ing all  the  data,  enter  END  to  termi- 
nate this  section  of  the  program. 

•  Enter  date  for  letter  (M/D/Y)?  Mail 
Merge  can  insert  a  date  wherever 
the  form  letter  has  the  special  indi- 
cator [date].  You  must  always  enter 
a  date,  even  if  your  form  letter 
doesn't  use  it.  Enter  the  date  in  the 
format  M/D/Y.  The  year  can  be 
entered  as  either  two  digits  or  four 
digits.  If  you  enter  two  digits.  Mail 
Merge  adds  19  in  front  of  the  digits 
you  enter.  For  example,  the  year 
1986  can  be  entered  as  either  86  or 
1986.  The  month  and  day  can  be 
entered  as  either  one  or  two  digits. 
Enter  2  for  the  month  of  February, 
12  for  December,  and  so  on.  When 
it  prints  the  letter.  Mail  Merge  con- 
verts that  date  to  the  usual  written 
format  (December  24,  1986).  The 
year  can  be  entered  as  two  digits 
(which  assumes  19nn),  or  as  four 
digits.  The  date  is  checked  for  valid- 
ity, but  February  29  is  not  consid- 
ered a  valid  date  by  Mail  Merge. 

•  Press  RETURN  when  ready  to  input 
letter.  This  prompt  indicates  that 
Mail  Merge  is  ready  to  store  the 
form  letter  in  memory.  Insert  the 
disk  containing  the  form-letter  file 
and  press  RETURN.  Mail  Merge 
reads  the  document,  examining 
each  line  for  special  Mail  Merge 


markers.  As  it  reads  each  line.  Mail 
Merge  prints  a  period  (.)  on  the 
screen.  This  process  takes  longer 
than  simply  loading  the  document, 
so  be  patient. 

•  Continuous  form  or  single  sheet 
feed?  Mail  Merge  gives  you  the  op- 
tion of  using  continuous  form  (fan- 
fold)  paper  or  feeding  sheets  in  one 
at  a  time.  Press  C  for  continuous 
form  or  S  for  single  sheet  paper. 
Note  that  letters  which  exceed  one 
page  in  length  cannot  be  used  with 
the  single  sheet  option,  since  Mail 
Merge  makes  no  provision  for 
pausing  except  at  the  end  of  the 
document. 

•  Press  RETURN  when  ready  to  begin 
printing.  At  this  point  Mail  Merge  is 
ready  to  print  the  final  letters.  Insert 
the  disk  containing  the  address  file 
and  make  sure  the  printer  is  turned 
on.  When  the  system  is  ready  to 
print,  press  RETURN.  Mail  Merge 
proceeds  to  print  a  letter  for  each 
record  in  the  address  file. 

•  Press  RETURN  when  ready.  This 
prompt  appears  only  if  you  select 
the  single  sheet  paper  opfion.  It 
alerts  you  when  it's  time  to  insert 
each  new  sheet  of  paper. 

•  End  of  Job.  Mail  Merge  has  finished 
printing  all  the  letters.  ® 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     1 15 


ScriptSave 

Automatic  Disk  Saves 

For  Commodore  64 
SpeedScript  3.0 


Have  you  ever  watched  your  com- 
puter suddenly  blink  off  due  to  an 
unexpected  power  failure,  and  then 
realized  that  you  haven't  saved  your 
text  for  an  hour  ormore?  All  that  work 
down  the  drain.  But  with  "Script- 
Save"  these  accidents  won't  be  quite 
so  disastrous.  The  machine  language 
program  is  designed  to  work  with  a 
Commodore  64,  a  disk  drive,  and  the 
SpeedScript  word  processor. 


While  you  are  working  with  a  com- 
puter, you're  tethered  to  a  lifeline. 
That  lifehne  is  the  computer's  power 
cord.  If  the  lifeline  is  disconnected  or 
interrupted  for  even  a  brief  moment, 
your  computer  suffers  an  attack  of 
amnesia.  Random  Access  Memory 
(RAM)  chips  need  a  constant  flow  of 
electricity  to  maintain  their  infor- 
mation— the  information  you  put 
into  the  computer.  Usually  a  power 
failure  does  not  damage  the  com- 
puter, but  it  does  obliterate  the  pro- 
gram or  text  you  were  working  on. 

Luckily,  most  people  live  in 
areas  with  reliable  power  sources. 
However,  electrical  service  in  some 
locales  is  subject  to  frequent  inter- 
ruptions. And  sometimes  your  way- 
ward foot,  a  passer-by,  a  small 
child,  or  even  a  pet  can  accidentally 
knock  a  power  cord  loose.  A  split- 
second  is  all  it  takes  for  the  com- 
puter to  forget. 

Unfortunately,  the  writer  is 
often  forgetful,  too.  To  protect  your- 
self against  power  interruptions, 
you  should  periodically  save  your 
work   on    disk.    But    when    you're 


J.  Blake  Lombert 

working  intensely,  it's  easy  to  forget 
this  important  duty.  If  the  power 
does  fail,  you  can  generally  remem- 
ber where  you  left  off,  but  it's  often 
impossible  to  remember  how  you 
got  there.  Even  if  you  frequently 
rewrite  your  documents,  losing  any 
of  the  intermediate  versions  inter- 
feres with  the  creative  process. 

An  Extra  Rope 

"ScriptSave"  is  the  solution.  Script- 
Save  is  a  short  (less  than  256-byte) 
utility  that  ties  into  the  Commodore 
64  version  of  SpeedScript  3.0.  Every 
ten  minutes,  it  waits  for  you  to  fin- 
ish the  paragraph  you're  working 
on,  and  then  automatically  saves 
your  text  (except  for  the  final  return 
character)  on  disk  with  a  special 
filename.  That  way,  if  a  power  fail- 
ure unexpectedly  strikes,  you  can 
later  recover  all  but  the  last  few 
minutes  of  your  work. 

ScriptSave  is  a  BASIC  loader 
and  boot  program:  It  loads  and  exe- 
cutes both  the  machine  language 
automatic-save  routine  and  Speed- 
Script  3.0.  Make  sure  both  programs 
are  on  the  same  disk,  and  change 
the  filename  in  line  30  of  Script- 
Save  to  the  filename  for  SpeedScript 
3.0  as  stored  on  your  disk.  General- 
ly, it  is  best  to  start  with  a  blank 
disk  and  place  ScriptSave  on  the 
disk  first.  This  way,  you  can  use 
LOAD"*",8:  followed  by  SHIFT- 
RUN/STOP  to  boot  up  for  a  writ- 
ing session. 

Once  you  load  and  run  Script- 
Save,  this  prompt  should  appear: 

File: 


Type  in  a  legal  Commodore 
filename,  but  limit  it  to  14  charac- 
ters or  less.  Press  RETURN.  Script- 
Save  automatically  loads  and  runs 
SpeedScript  3.0.  Now  you  can  start 
writing  and  stop  worrying  about 
periodic  saves. 

When  ScriptSave  stores  your 
work,  it  precedes  the  filename  you 
specified  with  a  two-digit  version 
number.  For  example,  if  you  choose 
the  filename  ARTICLE,  the  first 
version  will  be  called  OlARTICLE, 
the  second  version  02ARTICLE, 
and  so  on. 

Of  course,  you  can  still  save 
manually  anytime  you  wish.  Speed- 
Script  3.0  functions  normally  except 
for  one  detail — it  assumes  that  all 
your  saves  are  on  disk.  You  no 
longer  have  to  press  T  or  D  to  speci- 
fy Tape  or  Disk  after  selecting  the  f8 
SAVE  option. 

Additional  Notes 

When  you  finish  writing,  you  will 
probably  want  to  save  a  final  ver- 
sion of  your  text.  Later,  if  you  want 
to  scratch  the  intermediate  versions 
off  your  disk,  there's  a  quick  meth- 
od using  SpeedScript's  disk  com- 
mands. First,  press  CTRL-TI.  When 
SpeedScript  prompts  Disk  Com- 
mand:, type  s:??article  and  press 
RETURN  (substitute  for  article  the 
filename  you  specified  in  Script- 
Save). 

There's  another  trick  you  can 
use  to  give  yourself  more  time  be- 
tween saves  or  to  force  an  early 
save.  Since  ScriptSave  uses  the  in- 
ternal time-of-day  clock,  you  can 


1 16     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


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Holiday  PS.  Graphics  16,95 


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1942        19.95 

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Auio  Duel      33,95 

Bards  Tale       27.95 

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Moebius ' 27,95 

Movie  Maker 10.95 

One  on  One 10.95 

Touchdouvn  Football 10.95 

Ullima  IV 42.00 

EPYX 

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Create  A  Calendar          19.95 

Temple  ol  Apshai  Trilogy 13.49 

Street  Sports  Baseball 2549 

Street  Sports  Basketball 26  49 

Sub  Battle                   , ,  26.49 

Winter  GamsB 26  49 

World  Games 26  49 

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Pawn 29,95 


S*^         ABBY'S  SUPER  BUYS     ^i 

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Buy  Four  -  Get  One  FREE 


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Deadline 4.99 

Captive 4.99 

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Finders  Keepers 4,99 


Vegas  Jackpot 4.99 

Golden  Talisman 4.99 

Quest  For  Holy  Grail 4.99 

1985 -The 

Day  After 4.99 

Ant  Attack 4.99 

Challenger 4.99 

Spooks 4.99 


GAMESTAR 

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On  Court  Tennis 19,95 

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GBA  Championship  Basketball     23.49 

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Conflict  in  Viemam $28.49 

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Gunship 23.49 

Sileni  Service 23  49 

Top  Gunner  Senes 16  49 

Stealth  Fighter        CALL 

Pirates  26.49 

MINDSCAPE 

American  Challenge  ,    ,    S1995 

Bop  'n  Wrestle       19.95 

Delendet  of  the  Crown 23  49 

Fist  19  95 

Indoor  Sports        1995 

fnliltrator  19  95 

Super  Slat  Hockey 23.49 

Trail  Blazer  19  95 

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Merhn  64  S33.95 

Merlin  128  48.00 

SPRINGBOARD 

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CM.  Library  "1 23  49 

Oip  Art  Vol   (1  Of  3 u,  19.95 

ClipArtVol   (2        2649 

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Star  Scenery    San  Francisco 14  50 

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TIMEWDRKS 

Partner  S39  95 

Sideways 1995 

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Data  Manager  128  , ,         49.00 

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Percentage  Panic   1995 

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Ten  Utile  Robots  19.95 

XETEC.  INC 

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Awatex  Modems CALL 

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Xetec  Super  Graphics  Ji 35,95 

Wico  Boss  Joyslick      15.00 

Epv  500XJ  Joystick 15  00 

Disk  Notchets      4,50 

NASHUA  DISKS 

0SJDD5%"WtthSleaves 

Pc-f  Hundred  S  39 

Per  Thousand  S325 


RIBBONS 

Commodore  1 525      $7,50 

Commodore  1626'802       7.00 

Commodore  MPS  801      7,50 

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1526  Printer 9.00 

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GEOS  Tricks  &  Tips       15.00  | 

Peeks  &  Polies  lot  ihe  C-64 12,00  ■ 

Tricks  &  Tips  for  the  C-64 15.00  5 

1571  Iniernals    15,00  ■ 

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C-128  Tricksa  Tips 15.00  | 

Peeks  &  Pokes  for  C  128 12,50  ■ 

C  128  CP;M  User's  Guide    .  1500  B 

C  128  Internals  1500  B 


ALL  TITLES  ON  DISK  UNLESS  MARKED  (R)  FOR  ROM  CARTRIDGE  &  (C)  FOR  CASSETTE  TAPE 

Order  Line  WE  CHECK  FOR  STOLEN  CHARGE  CARDS  Customer  Service 

1-800-282-0333  .  n  ^  Ohio  Residents 

ORDERS  ONLY-  Sales  Personnel  Do  ^'^  ^°  ^"^'^  P*"'  ^^^     '^^'^  "  1-513-879-9699 

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Previous  Orders  or  Product  Specs.  '  '  ImoucCi 

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cOl     °"^^"  requiring  shipment  via  U,S,  Post  Office  are  subject  to  additional  freight  charges,  CQ.D.  orders  under  $100,00  accepted     add  S5,  Charge  card    I 
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MUST  BE  ACCOMPANIED  BY  AN  AUTHORIZATION  NUMBER         ■  I.MII.i   ■   <  j  1   ■ 


exit  SpeedScript  3.0  by  tapping  RE- 
STORE and  pressing  the  Y  key,  and 
then  POKE  56330,0  to  reset  the 
timer  and  delay  the  save.  Or  you 
can  POKE  56330,16  to  set  the  timer 
for  an  immediate  save,  which  will 
be  activated  the  next  time  you  press 


RETURN  while  in  SpeedScript.  You 
can  toggle  ScriptSave  off  and  on  by 
entering  SYS  52993.  Each  time 
ScriptSave  is  toggled  on,  it  resets 
the  version  number  to  01  and 
prompts  you  to  enter  a  new  file- 
name. All  of  these  commands  (ex- 


cept for  toggling  ScriptSave  on) 
should  be  followed  by  RUN  to  re- 
enter SpeedScript.  One  caution, 
however:  While  these  manipula- 
tions are  usually  safe,  there  is  a 
chance  that  exiting  and  reentering 
SpeedScript  will  erase  your  text.  © 


SpeedView 

An  80-Column  Preview  Program 

For  SpeedScript 


"SpeedView,"  an  enhancement  for 
compute's  Commodore  64  Speed- 
Script  word  processor  (versions  3.C 
and  higher),  provides  80-column  pre- 
viewing of  text  before  the  actual 
printing.  Using  4  X  3  high-resolution 
blocks,  the  program  shows  exactly 
how  each  page  of  the  document  will 
look  when  printed. 


SpeedScript,  COMPUTEI's  popular 
word  processor,  becomes  an  even 
more  useful  resource  with  this  pro- 
gram. "SpeedView"  lets  you  pre- 
view your  text  file  in  80  columns  so 
you  can  see  precisely  how  a  print- 
out of  your  document  will  look. 

To  use  SpeedView,  load  Speed- 
Script  but  do  not  run  it  yet.  Next, 
load  SpeedView  with  the  command 
LOAD"SPEEDVIEW",8,l.  Finally, 
type  SYS  9480  and  press  RETURN. 
This  command  activates  Speed- 
Script  with  the  SpeedView 
enhancement. 

Two  For  One 

If  you  plan  to  use  SpeedView  regu- 
larly, you  have  the  option  of  creat- 
ing a  combined  file  which  contains 
both  SpeedScript  and  SpeedView. 
Like  SpeedScript,  the  unified  file 
loads  and  runs  just  like  an  ordinary 
BASIC  program.  To  create  this  file, 
reset  the  computer  by  turning  it  ofl 
and  on;  then  enter  this  command 


Mark  Schreiner 

and  press  RETURN: 

POKE  44,48:POKE  48'256,0:NEW 

Load  SpeedView. Unify  into 
memory  and  insert  a  disk  containing 
copies  of  both  SpeedScript  and 
SpeedView.  When  you  run  Speed- 
View.Unify,  it  asks  you  to  enter  the 
names  of  the  SpeedScript  and  Speed- 
View  files  on  the  disk  in  the  drive. 
After  you've  entered  these  file- 
names, you  are  prompted  to  enter  a 
name  for  the  new,  combined  file. 
Speed  view.  Unify  reads  both  files 
into  memory,  modifies  the  BASIC 
portion  of  SpeedScript,  then  writes 
the  unified  package  back  to  disk 
using  the  filename  you  selected. 

To  use  this  combined  program, 
load  and  run  it  as  you  would  any 
BASIC  program.  You  now  have  a 
copy  of  SpeedScript  with  Speed- 
View  permanently  installed. 

SpeedView  Operation 

To  use  SpeedView,  press  CTRL- 
SHIFT-P,  followed  by  S,  the  com- 
mand sequence  to  direct  Speed- 
Script's  output  to  the  screen. 
Instead  of  the  usual  jumble  of 
scrolling  lines,  SpeedView  presents 
a  neatly  formatted  representation 
of  the  document's  first  page.  Press 
RETURN  to  view  succeeding  pages. 
SpeedView  shows  exactly  how 
each  page  will  look  when  printed 
on  paper.  When  the  last  page  has 
been  displayed,  press  any  key  to 


return  to  SpeedScript.  The  screen 
preview  option  is  the  only  Speed- 
Script  command  changed  by  Speed- 
View.  All  others  function  normally. 

You  should  never  press  RE- 
STORE while  previewing  a  docu- 
ment with  SpeedView.  If  you  must 
exit  SpeedScript,  press  RETURN  un- 
til you  have  reached  the  end  of  the 
SpeedView  display  and  return  to 
SpeedScript;  then  press  RESTORE 
to  exit.  If  you  do  not  use  the  com- 
bined file,  remember  that  the  prop- 
er sequence  is  to  load  SpeedScript, 
load  SpeedView,  then  activate 
SpeedView  with  the  SYS  command 
described  above. 

Some  printkey  values  may  not 
show  up  during  the  80-column  pre- 
view. SpeedView  displays  only 
those  characters  whose  Commo- 
dore ASCII  values  are  in  the  range 
of  32-90,  or  193-218,  inclusive. 
This  includes  the  upper  and  lower- 
case alphabets,  numerals,  and 
punctuation  marks.  The  Speed- 
View  program  code  occupies  1.5K 
of  space  that's  otherwise  available 
for  text  memory.  As  a  result,  you 
may  not  be  able  to  preview  a  very 
long  document  without  breaking  it 
into  two  smaller  files.  SpeedView 
behaves  erratically  if  you  change 
the  page  length  to  any  value  other 
than  66,  or  the  right  margin  to  any 
value  greater  than  80.  To  obtain  the 
best  results,  make  sure  to  use  those 
settings.  © 


1 1 8    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


SpeedCalc 

For  Commodore  64  And  1 28 


Written  completely  in  high-speed  ma- 
chine language,  SpeedCalc  has  all 
the  important  features  you'd  expect 
from  a  commercial  spreadsheet  pro- 
gram. In  addition,  its  data  files  can  be 
merged  into  text  files  created  with  the 
SpeedScript  3.2  word  processor. 


Have  you  ever  planned  a  budget  for 
your  home  or  office?  If  so,  you 
probably  used  some  sort  of  work- 
sheet divided  into  rows  and  col- 
umns. Perhaps  you  wrote  the 
months  of  the  year  along  the  top  of 
the  sheet  and  listed  categories  for 
earnings  and  expenses  along  one 
side.  After  entering  data  for  each 
category  and  month  of  the  year, 
you  could  calculate  total  income 
figures  by  adding  or  subtracting 
numbers  in  each  of  the  sheet's 
"cells." 

That's  a  classic  example  of  a 
worksheet.  It  lets  you  enter  and 
organize  data,  then  perform  calcu- 
lations that  produce  new  infor- 
mation. A  spreadsheet  program  is  an 
electronic  version  of  the  familiar 
paper  worksheet.  Since  it  does  all 
the  calculations  for  you  at  lightning 
speed,  an  electronic  spreadsheet  is 
far  more  convenient  than  its  paper 
counterpart.  And  spreadsheet  pro- 
grams also  offer  built-in  editing  fea- 
tures that  let  you  enter  and 
manipulate  large  amounts  of  data 
with  a  minimum  of  effort. 

SpeedCalc  is  an  all  machine 
language  spreadsheet  program  for 
the  Commodore  64.  Though  rela- 
tively compact  in  size,  it's  fast  and 
easy  to  use,  and  has  many  of  the 
features  found  in  commercial 
spreadsheet  programs.  Even  better, 
the   "SpeedScript   Integrator"   pro- 


Kevin  Martin 

gram  (also  included  here)  lets  you 
merge  your  SpeedCalc  files  into 
word  processing  documents  creat- 
ed with  SpeedScript,  COMPUTEI's 
popular  word  processor.  Working 
together,  SpeedCalc  and  SpeedScript 
make  a  powerful  team.  You  can 
merge  a  chart  of  sales  figures  into  a 
company  report,  create  a  table  of 
scientific  data  for  a  term  paper,  and 
manipulate  numeric  information  in 
many  other  ways.  In  a  sense,  a 
spreadsheet  program  brings  to 
arithmetic  all  of  the  flexibility  and 
power  that  a  word  processor  brings 
to  writing. 

The  SpeedCalc  Screen 

To  use  the  program,  simply  enter 

LOAD"SPEEDCALC",8,  then  type 

RUN. 

SpeedCalc  uses  the  top  line  of  the 

screen  as  the  command  line.  This  is 

where  SpeedCalc  displays  messages 

and  asks  you  questions. 

Screen  lines  2-4  are  the  input 
buffer  area.  This  is  the  work  area 
where  you  enter  and  edit  data.  As 
you'll  see  in  a  moment,  the  input 
buffer  also  displays  the  data  con- 
tained in  the  current  cell. 

The  lower  21  screen  lines  are 
your  window  into  the  spreadsheet. 
Though  the  spreadsheet  contains 
many  rows  and  columns,  only  a 
few  can  fit  on  the  screen  at  one 
time.  By  scrolling  the  screen  back 
and  forth  with  the  cursor,  you  can 
move  the  display  window  to  any 
part  of  the  spreadsheet. 

The  SpeedCalc  worksheet  con- 
sists of  50  vertical  columns  labeled 
with  letters  (AA,  AB  ...  BX)  and  200 
horizontal  rows  numbered  from 
1-200.  The  rectangle  where  a  row 
and  column  intersect  is  called  a  cell. 
Cells  are  where  you  store  data. 
With  50  columns  and  200  rows,  the 


SpeedCalc  spreadsheet  has  a  maxi- 
mum of  10,000  (50*200)  cells.  Due 
to  memory  limitations,  however, 
only  about  a  third  of  these  can  actu- 
ally contain  data.  But  you  may 
spread  out  the  data  over  all  10,000 
cells  if  necessary,  depending  on 
what  format  you  need. 

If  you  don't  like  the  spread- 
sheet's screen  colors,  they're  easily 
changed  with  the  special  function 
keys.  Press  the  fl  key  to  cycle 
through  the  16  border  colors  unhl 
you  find  one  you  like.  The  f3  key 
changes  the  background  color  and 
f5  changes  the  character  color. 

Moving  The  Cursor 

Each  cell  is  identified  with  the  let- 
ters of  its  column  and  the  number 
of  its  row.  For  example,  the  cell  at 
the  extreme  upper-left  comer  of  the 
sheet  is  called  AAl,  since  it's  in 
column  AA  and  row  1.  The  cell 
below  that  is  AA2.  Moving  one  cell 
to  the  right  from  AA2  puts  you  in 
cell  AB2,  and  so  on.  (For  the  sake  of 
clarity,  this  article  uses  uppercase 
letters  for  cell  names.  Note,  howev- 
er, that  you  must  use  lowercase  let- 
ters such  as  aal  when  entering  cell 
names  within  SpeedCalc.) 

Your  current  position  in  the 
spreadsheet  is  shown  by  the  high- 
lighted cursor.  The  simplest  way  to 
move  around  the  sheet  is  with  the 
cursor  keys,  which  work  just  as 
they  do  in  BASIC.  Another  way  to 
move  the  cursor  is  with  the  HOME 
key  (press  CLR/HOME  without 
pressing  SHIFT).  Press  HOME  once 
to  "home"  the  cursor  on  the  current 
screen:  The  cursor  moves  to  the 
upper-left  cell.  Press  HOME  twice 
in  succession  to  move  the  cursor  to 
cell  AAl,  the  home  position  for  the 
entire  sheet. 

SpeedCalc  also  has  a  goto  com- 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     1 19 


mand  for  moving  over  long  dis- 
tances. Press  CTRL-G  (hold  down 
CTRL  and  press  G).  The  command 
line  turns  blue  and  displays  GOTO: 
followed  by  an  underline  cursor. 
The  underline  cursor  generally  in- 
dicates that  SpeedCalc  is  waiting  for 
data — in  this  case  it  expects  the 
name  of  the  cell  where  you  wish  to 
go.  If  you  enter  bal88  at  this  point, 
SpeedCalc  moves  the  cursor  to  cell 
BA188,  adjusting  the  screen  win- 
dow as  needed.  Take  a  few  mo- 
ments to  practice  moving  around 
the  spreadsheet  with  all  three  meth- 
ods; You'll  be  using  them  a  lot.  In  a 
later  section,  we'll  discuss  how  to 
change  the  size  and  format  of  a  cell. 

Keyboard  Commands 

SpeedCalc  offers  many  different 
commands,  a  few  of  which  are  en- 
tered by  pressing  one  key.  How- 
ever, most  commands  are  entered 
by  pressing  CTRL  along  with  an- 
other key.  CTRL-G,  as  you've  seen, 
is  the  goto  command.  CTRL-A  dis- 
plays the  amount  of  free  memory 
available,  and  so  on.  The  most  dras- 
tic command  is  CTRL-X,  which  ex- 
its SpeedCalc  and  returns  you  to 
BASIC.  Since  leaving  the  program 
effectively  erases  all  data  in  memo- 
ry, SpeedCalc  prompts  you  with 
ARE  YOU  SURE  Y/N?  before  it 
shuts  down.  To  cancel  the  com- 
mand, simply  type  N  and  press 
RETURN. 

A  few  commands  require  you 
to  press  three  keys  at  once.  This 
sounds  more  awkward  than  it  is  in 
practice,  since  two  of  the  three  keys 
are  SHIFT  and  CTRL.  For  instance, 
the  recalculate  command  is  per- 
formed by  pressing  SHIFT-CTRL-R 
(hold  down  SHIFT  and  CTRL,  then 
press  R).  The  accompanying  table 
lists  all  the  SpeedCalc  commands. 
We'll  be  discussing  each  command 
in  more  detail  below. 

Three  Data  Types 

Before  entering  any  data,  you  must 
know  what  kind  of  data  SpeedCalc 
accepts.  There  are  three  different 
types:  numbers,  text,  and  formulas. 
Let's  look  at  each  type  in  turn: 

1.  Numeric  data  consists  of  num- 
bers— the  basic  stuff  that  spread- 
sheets work  with.  SpeedCalc  has  a 
few  simple  rules  for  numeric  data: 
A  number  must  be  a  decimal  value 
(base  10,  not  hexadecimal)  com- 


posed of  one  or  more  digits  from 
0-9,  with  an  optional  plus  or  minus 
sign.  A  decimal  point  is  also  option- 
al. If  you  include  any  other  charac- 
ters in  numeric  input,  SpeedCalc 
treats  the  entire  input  as  text  data 
(as  explained  below).  Thus,  the 
numbers  123,  .001,  and  -65535 
are  valid  numeric  data.  The  num- 
bers 65,535  (which  includes  a  com- 
ma) and  358E6  (scientific  notation) 
are  not. 

For  example,  let's  enter  the 
number  123  in  cell  AAl.  No  special 
commands  are  required  to  enter 
data:  Just  move  the  cursor  to  AAl 
and  begin  typing.  While  you're  en- 
tering the  number,  it  appears  only 
in  the  input  buffer  near  the  top  of 
the  screen.  As  soon  as  you  press 
RETURN,  the  number  appears  in 
AAl  and  the  letter  N  appears  at  the 
upper  right  of  the  screen.  The  N 
signifies  numeric,  meaning  that 
SpeedCalc  has  accepted  the  entry  as 
valid  numeric  data.  Move  the  cur- 
sor to  a  vacant  cell,  then  move  it 
back  to  AAl.  The  input  buffer  dis- 
plays whatever  data  is  found  in  the 
cell  under  the  cursor.  When  the  cur- 
rent cell  is  empty,  the  buffer  is  emp- 
ty as  well. 

As  you  can  see,  pressing  RE- 
TURN enters  a  data  item  into  the 
current  cell.  You  can  also  end  the 
input  by  pressing  a  cursor  key.  The 
data  is  entered  as  if  you  had  pressed 
RETURN,  and  the  cursor  moves  in 
the  indicated  direction.  This  feature 
is  handy  for  entering  a  lot  of  data: 
Simply  type  the  entry,  move  the 
cursor  to  the  next  cell,  enter  more 
data,  and  so  on. 

2.  Text  data  is  not  "data"  in  the 
strict  sense,  since  SpeedCalc  doesn't 
use  it  in  calculations  as  it  does  num- 
bers and  formulas.  Text  data  is 
there  only  to  help  humans  under- 
stand what  the  other  data  means. 
Text  may  consist  of  comments,  ti- 
tles, column  headings,  subhead- 
ings, or  whatever  you  need  to 
interpret  the  numbers  and  formu- 
las. As  an  example,  move  the  cursor 
to  cell  AA2  (just  under  AAl)  and 
type  the  following  line.  Note  that 
both  uppercase  and  lowercase  let- 
ters are  acceptable: 
This  is  a  piece  of  text  data. 

You  can  use  the  DEL  key  to 
erase  mistakes  while  you're  typing. 
When  you  press  RETURN,  Speed- 


Calc displays  T  (for  text)  in  the 
upper-right  comer.  In  this  example, 
the  cell  isn't  long  enough  to  accept 
all  the  text,  so  only  the  leftmost 
portion  appears  in  AA2.  But  even 
though  you  can't  see  it,  all  of  the 
text  is  there.  Move  the  cursor  to 
another  cell,  then  move  it  back  to 
AA2.  As  soon  as  you  return  to  AA2, 
SpeedCalc  displays  all  the  text  in  the 
input  buffer. 

3.  Formula  data  is  a  mathematical 
expression  or  formula.  It  may  be  as 
simple  as  2-1-2  or  as  complex  as 
your  imagination  (and  mathemati- 
cal prowess)  allows.  The  first  char- 
acter in  a  formula  must  always  be 
an  equal  sign  (  =  ).  If  you  omit  this 
symbol,  SpeedCalc  either  signals  an 
error  or  treats  the  data  as  text.  The 
true  power  of  a  spreadsheet  is  that  a 
formula  in  one  cell  can  refer  to  an- 
other cell.  This  is  easier  to  demon- 
strate than  to  explain.  Move  the 
cursor  to  cell  AA3  and  type  the 
following  line: 

=  aal '25.01 +  @sqr(4) 

As  soon  as  you  press  RETURN, 
SpeedCalc  displays  F  (for  formula) 
in  the  upper-right  comer  and  puts 
the  result  of  the  formula  (not  the 
formula  itself)  in  AA3.  If  AAl  con- 
tains 123,  the  value  3078.23  ap- 
pears in  AA3.  In  plain  English,  this 
formula  means  "multiply  the  con- 
tents of  cell  AAl  by  25.01  and  add 
the  square  root  of  4."  Before  we 
examine  the  formula  more  closely, 
here's  a  quick  demonstration  of 
what  makes  a  spreadsheet  such  a 
powerful  tool.  Move  the  cursor 
back  to  AAl  and  press  CTRL-R. 
The  command  line  displays  the 
message  RECALCULATION  IS 
ON,  meaning  SpeedCalc  now  auto- 
matically recalculates  the  entire 
sheet  whenever  you  make  a 
change.  Now  change  the  number  in 
AAl  to  456  (simply  move  to  the  cell 
and  start  typing).  The  new  result 
(1 1406.53)  automatically  appears  in 
cell  AA3.  We'll  explain  more  about 
automatic  recalculation  later. 

When  you  enter  the  name  of 
another  cell  in  a  formula,  the  letters 
must  be  lowercase  (enter  aal,  not 
AAl).  The  referenced  cell  must 
contain  data  that  SpeedCalc  can 
evaluate:  a  number  or  another  for- 
mula. If  the  formula  refers  to  an 
empty  cell,  or  one  that  contains 
text,  SpeedCalc  signals  an  error. 


1 20    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Mathematical  Operators 

These  symbols  can  be  used  as  oper- 
ators in  a  formula: 


operator 

+ 


t1  (up  arrow) 


Function 

addition 

subtraction 

multiplication 

division 

exponentiation 

equality 


One  factor  that  affects  formulas 
is  precedence,  or  the  order  in  which 
operations  are  performed.  In  Speed- 
Calc,  formula  operators  have  the 
same  precedence  as  in  ordinary 
math  (BASIC,  as  you  may  know, 
uses  a  somewhat  different  prece- 
dence). 

The  first  operators  to  be  evalu- 
ated— those  with  the  highest  prece- 
dence— are  those  enclosed  in 
parentheses.  Where  one  set  of  pa- 
rentheses encloses  another,  the  ex- 
pression in  the  innermost  set  is 
evaluated  first.  The  next  operators 
to  be  evaluated  are  exponents.  Mul- 
tiplication and  division  have  equal 
precedence;  both  operations  are 
lower  than  exponentiation.  Addi- 
tion and  subtraction  have  the  low- 
est precedence  of  all.  To  take  one 
example,  SpeedCak  evaluates  the 
formula  =5*(8-|-3*-2)n2-10/  +  2 
as  the  value  15,  just  as  in  ordinary 
math.  Note  how  the  result  is  affect- 
ed by  the  plus  and  minus  signs 
before  the  two  2s, 

Functions 

Formulas  may  also  include  any  of 
the  functions  listed  here: 


@ab9( ) 

absolute  value 

@atn( ) 

arctangent 

@ave( ) 

average  of  a  block  of  cells 

@cos( ) 

cosine 

@exp( ) 

value  of  e  (2.7182318...) 

@int( ) 

integer 

@log() 

natural  logarithm 

@sgn() 

sign 

@sin( ) 

sine 

@sqr() 

square  root 

@sum( ) 

sum  of  a  block  of  cells 

@taii() 

tangent 

P» 

value  of  pi  (3.14159265) 

All  the  functions  except  pi  be- 
gin with  the  @  symbol  and  are 
followed  by  parentheses.  Within 
the  parentheses  of  a  function  you 
may  use  a  number  or  formula.  For 
example,  the  formula  =@sqr(4) 
generates  the  square  root  of  4.  The 
formula  =@sqr{aal)  returns  the 
square  root  of  whatever  value  cell 
AAl  contains.  Note  that  the  argu- 


ment (value  within  parentheses)  of 
the  functions  @tan( ),  @sin( )  and 
(g)cos( )  must  be  expressed  in  radi- 
ans; the  result  of  the  function 
(a)arc( )  is  expressed  in  radians.  The 
function  @int( )  generates  an  inte- 
ger (whole  number)  by  truncating 
(discarding  the  fractional  part  oO  a 
numeric  value;  note  that  this  is  dif- 
ferent from  rounding. 

The  function  @ave( )  calcu- 
lates the  average  of  the  values  in  a 
block  (group)  of  cells.  The  function 
(^sum()  calculates  the  sum  of  a 
block.  Both  functions  require  that 
you  define  the  block  so  that  Speed- 
Cak knows  which  cells  to  include 
in  the  calculation.  This  is  done  by 
putting  two  cell  names  separated 
by  a  colon  in  the  parentheses.  The 
first  cell  name  defines  the  upper- 
left  comer  of  the  block,  and  the 
second  defines  the  bottom-right 
corner.  For  instance,  @ave(aal: 
ad20)  calculates  the  average  of  all 
the  cells  from  AAl  to  AD20.  The 
function  @sum(aal:ad20)  calcu- 
lates the  sum  of  AAl  through 
AD20,  and  so  on.  An  error  results  if 
any  cell  in  the  block  is  blank  or 
contains  text  data. 

Editing  The  Sheet 

Editing  is  a  very  important  spread- 
sheet function.  The  simplest  way  to 
change  what  a  cell  contains  is  to 
move  to  it  and  start  typing.  The  old 
data  in  that  cell  is  replaced  by  what- 
ever you  enter.  For  instance,  to  re- 
place the  contents  of  cell  AAl  with 
the  number  456,  move  to  that  cell, 
type  456,  and  press  RETURN  or  exit 
with  a  cursor  key.  Press  CTRL-B 
(think  of  blank)  to  erase  what's  in  the 
current  cell.  You  can  also  clear  a  cell 
by  typing  a  space  and  pressing  RE- 
TURN. To  erase  everything  in  the 
sheet,  press  SHIFT-CLR/  HOME. 
Before  carrying  out  this  drastic  oper- 
ation, SpeedCak  asks  you  to  confirm 
it  by  pressing  Y  or  N. 

In  some  cases,  only  a  minor 
change  is  needed.  Edit  mode  lets 
you  change  the  data  in  a  cell  with- 
out retyping  the  entire  entry.  To 
activate  edit  mode,  move  to  the  de- 
sired cell  and  press  CTRL-E.  In  this 
mode,  the  up/down  cursor  key  is 
disabled,  and  the  left/right  cursor 
key  moves  v^^thin  the  input  buffer. 
Erase  unwanted  characters  with  the 
DEL  key.  Typing  in  edit  mode  in- 
serts new  characters  in  the  line:  Ev- 


erything to  the  right  of  the  new 
character  moves  right  one  space 
(unless  the  buffer  is  already  full). 
Since  the  cursor  keys  have  a  differ- 
ent function  in  edit  mode,  you  can- 
not use  them  to  end  the  input.  Press 
RETURN  to  enter  the  new  data  and 
escape  from  edit  mode. 

As  you  may  have  learned  al- 
ready, SpeedCak  displays  *ERROR* 
in  a  cell  when  you  enter  an  errone- 
ous formula.  The  usual  cause  is  that 
you  have  made  a  typing  error  in 
that  cell,  or  the  formula  refers  to 
text  or  an  empty  cell.  A  line  of 
asterisks  (**♦•**♦**)  signals  that  a 
number  is  too  large  to  be  printed  in 
the  cell.  Though  these  messages  ap- 
pear in  the  cell  area,  no  data  is  lost. 
You  may  move  to  the  affected  cell, 
view  its  contents  in  the  input  buffer 
and  make  whatever  correction  is 
needed. 

Recalcuiation 

This  feature  is  the  very  core  of 
SpeedCak.  As  you  know,  entering 
or  editing  a  piece  of  data  causes 
SpeedCak  to  perform  a  calculation 
and  put  the  result  in  the  cell  under 
the  cursor.  In  most  cases,  the  new 
data  relates  to  data  in  other  cells,  so 
you'll  ultimately  want  to  recalcu- 
late the  entire  spreadsheet  as  well. 
This  can  be  done  in  two  different 
ways:  manually  or  automatically. 

To  recalculate  the  spreadsheet 
manually,  press  the  back  arrow  key 
(•-,  at  upper-left  on  the  keyboard). 
SpeedCak  begins  at  AAl  and  recal- 
culates every  cell  that  contains  data, 
placing  fresh  results  wherever 
needed.  If  you  switch  to  automatic 
recalculation  mode,  SpeedCak  auto- 
matically recalculates  the  entire 
spreadsheet  each  time  you  enter 
new  data  or  edit  what  exists.  When 
you  press  CTRL-R,  SpeedCalc 
changes  the  recalculation  status 
and  displays  it  at  the  top  of  the 
screen.  If  automatic  recalculation 
was  turned  off  before,  it  is  now  on 
(and  vice  versa).  If  you  aren't  sure 
which  mode  you're  in,  press 
SHIFT-CTRL-R;  SpeedCak  displays 
the  recalculation  mode  without 
changing  it. 

Automatic  recalculation  can  be 
fun  to  watch  in  a  large  spreadsheet: 
Every  time  you  make  a  change, 
new  results  ripple  all  the  way  down 
the  screen.  However,  the  more  data 
your  spreadsheet  contains,   the 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     1 21 


longer  it  takes  to  update  the  entire 
sheet.  For  this  reason,  you  may 
want  to  turn  automatic  recalcula- 
tion off  most  of  the  time,  recalculat- 
ing with  the  back  arrow  key 
whenever  you  need  to  view  results. 

One  problem  with  recalcula- 
tion arises  from  the  order  in  which 
cells  are  calculated.  Because  only 
one  cell  can  be  calculated  at  a  time, 
you  must  sometimes  recalculate  the 
entire  spreadsheet  two  or  three 
times  to  get  correct  results  in  every 
cell  (this  is  common  to  all  spread- 
sheet programs).  For  instance,  say 
you  have  a  formula  in  AAl  which 
refers  to  a  formula  in  AB15.  When 
SpeedCalc  calculates  AAl,  it  must 
use  the  existing  data  from  AB15 — 
which  is  probably  out  of  date,  since 
the  formula  in  AB15  hasn't  been 
recalculated  yet.  To  avoid  this  prob- 
lem, you  should  always  press  the 
back  arrow  key  two  or  three  times 
before  printing  a  spreadsheet  or 
saving  it  to  disk. 

SpeedCalc  offers  a  number  of 
other  features.  Before  experiment- 
ing with  them,  you  should  spend 
some  time  typing  in  a  hypothetical 
spreadsheet — perhaps  a  fictitious 
yearly  budget — to  become  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  the  basic  com- 
mands covered  so  far.  Most 
importantly,  create  formulas,  using 
all  the  operators  in  different  combi- 
nations. Try  doing  things  that  you 
know  will  cause  errors.  Then  cor- 
rect the  errors  in  edit  mode,  and  so 
on.  It  takes  a  thorough  grasp  of  the 
fundamentals  to  get  the  most  out  of 
SpeedCalc's  advanced  features. 

Change  Type  And  Format 

The  default  (normal)  format  for  nu- 
meric data  is  flush  right  with 
rounding  to  two  decimal  places.  In 
other  words,  the  number  is  dis- 
played in  the  rightmost  part  of  the 
cell,  with  two  numbers  after  the 
decimal  point.  Text  and  formulas 
are  flushed  left  (shown  in  the  left- 
most part  of  the  cell).  SpeedCalc 
offers  several  commands  for  chang- 
ing cell  formats. 

Change  Type  (CTRL-T).  As  noted 
earlier,  SpeedCalc  displays  a  T,  N,  or 
F  in  the  upper-right  comer  of  the 
screen  to  show  the  data  type  of  the 
current  cell.  Occasionally  you  may 
need  to  change  a  cell's  data  type. 
Press  CTRL-T  for  the  change  type 


command:  SpeedCalc  displays  the 
question  CHANGE  TO:  TEXT,  NU- 
MERIC, FORMULA?  in  the  com- 
mand line.  To  change  the  data  type, 
press  T,  N,  or  F.  Be  careful  not  to 
create  new  errors  when  doing  this. 

Change   Format    (CTRL-F).   This 

command  changes  the  location  of 
data  in  the  cell  and  the  number  of 
decimal  places.  When  you  press 
CTRL-F,  SpeedCalc  displays  the 
question  FORMAT:  Left,  Center,  or 
Right  justify?  in  the  command  line. 
Press  L,  C,  or  R  to  move  the  data  to 
the  left,  center,  or  right  of  the  cell. 
Next,  you  must  select  the  number 
of  decimal  places  for  that  cell.  The 
default  value  is  2,  but  you  may 
change  it  to  anything  from  0-15.  If 
you  choose  zero  decimal  places, 
any  number  in  that  cell  is  rounded 
off  to  the  nearest  integer  (whole 
number).  If  you  choose  15,  a  num- 
ber in  that  cell  is  not  rounded  off  at 
all — SpeedCalc  displays  it  exactiy  as 
you  entered  it  or  as  it  was  calculat- 
ed from  a  formula. 

Width  (CTRL-W).  The  width  com- 
mand changes  the  v^ndth  of  an  en- 
tire column  of  cells.  Move  the 
cursor  to  any  cell  in  the  desired 
column,  then  press  CTRL-W.  When 
SpeedCalc  displays  the  prompt 
Width:  you  should  respond  with  a 
number  from  4-36.  The  entire 
screen  is  redrawn  to  accommodate 
the  new  format,  and  may  look  very 
different  depending  on  what  value 
you  chose.  For  instance,  if  you  in- 
crease a  column's  width,  the  right- 
most column  of  the  former  display 
may  disappear:  SpeedCalc  only  dis- 
plays as  many  complete  columns  as 
it  can  fit  on  the  screen.  If  you  de- 
crease the  width  of  a  column,  you 
may  see  asterisks  where  numbers 
used  to  be  (indicating  the  cell  is 
now  too  small  to  display  the  entire 
number).  To  get  rid  of  the  asterisks, 
expand  the  column  as  necessary. 

Global  Formal  (SHIFT-CTRL-F). 

This  is  the  same  as  the  ordinary 
format  command,  but  operates 
globally,  changing  every  cell  in  the 
sheet  instead  of  just  one.  To  alert 
you  to  the  difference,  SpeedCalc 
changes  the  color  of  the  command 
line  to  blue. 

Global  Width  (SHIFT-CTRL-W). 
This  is  a  global  version  of  the  width 
command.  The  command  line  turns 
light  green  to  signal  the  difference. 


Every  column  in  the  sheet  changes 
to  the  designated  v^dth. 

Macro  Editing 

After  typing  in  a  large  spreadsheet, 
you  may  decide  to  make  a  major 
change.  You  may  want  to  add  new 
data  somewhere  in  the  middle,  de- 
lete a  section,  or  move  a  group  of 
cells  from  one  location  to  another. 
SpeedCalc's  macro  (large-scale) 
editing  commands  simplify  such 
operations,  affecting  an  entire  block 
of  cells  at  once.  A  block  is  simply  a 
group  of  cells  connected  in  rectan- 
gular fashion:  You  can  define  it  as  a 
single  cell,  a  row  or  column,  or  any 
rectangular  area  within  the  spread- 
sheet. 

There  are  two  ways  in  which 
macro  commands  can  work:  verba- 
tim or  relative.  To  take  a  simple 
example,  say  that  cell  AA2  contains 
the  formula  =aal*5  and  you  want 
to  move  its  contents  to  cell  AB2. 
When  this  is  done  in  verbatim 
mode,  AB2  contains  an  exact  copy 
of  what  wasin  AA2(  =  aal*5).  Note 
that  the  cell  name  used  in  the  for- 
mula does  not  change:  The  formula 
still  refers  to  AAl.  If  you  perform 
the  same  operation  in  relative 
mode,  the  cell  name  in  the  formula 
is  adjusted  to  fit  the  new  location. 
In  this  case,  AB2  would  contain  the 
formula  =abl*5. 

Copy  (CTRL-C).  The  copy  com- 
mand copies  a  block  of  cells  into  a 
different  location  without  disturb- 
ing the  original  cells.  Place  the  cur- 
sor on  the  upper-left  comer  of  the 
block  you  want  to  copy,  then  press 
CTRL-C.  SpeedCalc  changes  the 
command  line  to  purple  and 
prompts  you  to  move  the  cursor  to 
the  lower-right  comer  of  the  block 
you  want  to  copy.  Once  the  cursor 
is  in  place,  press  RETURN.  Now 
SpeedCalc  prompts  you  to  move  the 
cursor  to  the  place  where  you  want 
to  put  the  block:  This  is  the  upper- 
left  comer  of  the  new  position. 
Once  the  cursor  is  there,  press  RE- 
TURN again.  The  new  data  re- 
places whatever  was  contained  in 
the  designated  cells.  Note  that  if 
you  define  an  impossible  block  (for 
instance,  moving  the  cursor  to  the 
upper-left  of  the  original  position, 
rather  than  below  and  to  the  right), 
SpeedCalc  does  not  copy  any  data. 
Move  (CTRL-M).  This  command 
works  like  a  copy,  but  it  fills  the 


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original  cells  with  blanks.  Though 
SpeedCalc  has  no  express  insert 
command,  you  can  use  this  com- 
mand to  make  space  for  new  data  in 
the  middle  of  a  spreadsheet.  Simply 
move  everything  below  the  inser- 
tion point  down  as  far  as  you  need. 
Relative  Copy  (SHIFT-CTRL-C). 
This  form  of  the  copy  command 
adjusts  the  cell  names  used  in  for- 
mulas within  the  copied  block  (see 
explanation  above). 
Relative  Move  (SHIFT-CTRL-M). 
This  is  the  relative  form  of  the  move 
command.  Cell  names  in  formulas 
are  adjusted  to  reflect  the  move. 

Memory  Management 

SpeedCalc  makes  about  lOK  (over 
10,000  characters)  of  memory 
available  for  data.  As  noted  earlier, 
SpeedCalc  lets  you  spread  your  data 
out  over  a  much  larger  number  of 
cells  than  you  can  actually  fill  with 
data.  The  extra  space  is  provided  to 
give  you  full  control  over  the  final 
format  of  the  spreadsheet — for  ex- 
ample, you  could  have  a  15  X  150 
spreadsheet — and  to  leave  some  el- 
bow room  for  move  and  copy 
operations. 

Because  memory  is  limited, 
you  should  keep  careful  track  of 
how  much  is  free  while  using  the 
program.  Press  CTRL-A  to  display 
the  amount  of  free  memory.  We 
suggest  limiting  your  spreadsheets 
to  1 ,296  cells  (equivalent  to  36  rows 
by  36  columns).  If  you  have  filled 
nearly  all  of  free  memory,  you  may 
have  to  break  the  spreadsheet  into 
two  smaller  sheets. 

Although  SpeedCalc  checks  the 
amount  of  available  memory,  and 
displays  an  error  message  if  you 
run  out  of  memory,  you  should  be 
careful  not  to  exhaust  free  memory. 
Any  move  or  copy  operation  in  pro- 
cess will  be  aborted  if  sufficient 
memory  is  not  available. 

Disk  Operations 

SpeedCalc  has  four  disk  commands 
which  allow  you  to  save  a  spread- 
sheet to  disk,  load  it,  display  the 
disk  directory,  and  send  commands 
to  the  disk  drive.  The  directory 
command  is  the  simplest  to  use. 
Press  CTRL-4  (think  of  the  dollar 
sign):  The  screen  clears  and  the  di- 
rectory is  displayed.  Press  RETURN 
to  return  to  the  normal  screen.  You 
may  pause  the  directory  display 


v^rith  the  space  bar. 

To  save  a  spreadsheet  to  disk, 
press  the  f8  function  key  (SHIFT- 
f7).  SpeedCalc  prints  SAVE:  on  the 
command  line,  followed  by  an  un- 
derline cursor.  Enter  a  valid  Com- 
modore filename  and  press 
RETURN.  (If  you  change  your  mind 
and  decide  not  to  save  anything, 
press  RETURN  without  typing  a 
filename.)  The  disk  drive  spins  for  a 
few  moments,  then  SpeedCalc 
prints  the  drive  status  in  the  com- 
mand line.  The  message  00,OK,00, 
00  means  there  were  no  errors. 

To  load  a  saved  file  from  disk, 
press  the  f7  key.  Again,  SpeedCalc 
prompts  you  to  enter  the  filename 
and  displays  the  disk  status  when 
the  operation  is  complete. 

You  can  perform  other  Com- 
modore disk  commands  by  press- 
ing CTRL-T— press  CTRL  and  the  T 
(up  arrow)  key  together.  SpeedCalc 
prompts  you  to  enter  a  disk  com- 
mand. If  you  press  RETURN  with- 
out typing  a  command,  SpeedCalc 
displays  the  drive  status  and  sends 
no  command.  You  need  not  enclose 
the  command  in  quotation  marks  or 
type  ,8  after  it.  For  example,  press 
CTRL-T,  then  enter  VO  to  validate  a 
disk.  Consult  your  disk  drive  man- 
ual for  more  information  about 
Commodore  disk  commands. 

Printing 

SpeedCalc  lets  you  print  data  to 
three  different  devices:  to  the  screen 
for  previewing  output,  to  a  printer 
for  permanent  documentation,  or  to 
a  disk  file  for  integrating  the  data 
with  a  SpeedScript  document. 

To  preview  your  spreadsheet 
on  the  screen,  press  SHIFT-CTRL- 
P,  then  press  S  (screen  output) 
when  prompted. 

To  print  a  hardcopy  of  the 
spreadsheet,  press  CTRL-P.  If  your 
printer  is  configured  like  most,  this 
should  produce  a  satisfactory  print- 
out. This  command  sends  output  to 
the  printer  as  device  number  four 
with  a  secondary  address  of  seven 
(uppercase/lowercase  on  most  sys- 
tems). Before  using  this  command,  you 
must  position  the  cursor  below  and  to 
the  right  of  the  block  of  cells  you  wish 
to  print.  The  upper-left  comer  of  the 
printout  starts  at  cell  AAl. 

To  send  output  to  a  printer 
with  a  device  number  other  than 
four  or  a  secondary  address  other 


Tabie  1:  SpeedCalc 

Commands 

Command 

Action 

CIKL-A 

available  memory 

check 

CTRL-B 

blank  (erase)  cur- 

rent cell 

(JIRL-C 

copy  block 

verbatim 

CIRL-E 

edit  current  cell 

CTRL-F 

change  cell  format 

CIRL-G 

goto  selected  cell 

CIRL-M 

move  block 

verbatim 

CTRL-P 

print  file  on  printer 

CTRL-T 

change  data  type  of 

ceU 

CIRL-W 

change  column 

width 

CIRL-X 

exit  SpeedCalc 

CTRL-4 

disk  directory 

CTRL-t 

send  disk 

command 

CLR/HOME 

home  cursor 

SHIFT-CTRL-C 

copy  block  relative 

SHIl-1-CTRL-M 

move  block 

relative 

SHIFT-CTRL-P 

print  to  screen. 

disk,  or  printer 

SHIFT-CIRL-W 

change  width  of  all 

columns 

SHIFT-CLR/HOME 

erase  entire  sheet 

fl 

change  border  color 

f3 

change  background 

color 

f5 

change  character 

color 

f7 

load  SpeedCalc  file 

fS 

save  SpeedCalc  file 

-  recalculate  sheet 

than  seven,  enter  SHIFT-CTRL-P, 
then  enter  the  device  number  and 
secondary  address  when  prompted. 
During  a  printout,  you  can  pause 
the  output  by  pressing  SHIFT  or 
SHIFT  LOCK:  The  screen  border 
turns  white  and  printing  ceases  un- 
til you  release  SHIFT.  Press  RUN/ 
STOP  to  abort  printing. 

You  can  also  print  SpeedCalc 
data  to  a  disk  file  for  use  in  a  Speed- 
Script  document.  Select  the  D  op- 
tion after  pressing  CTRL-SHIFT-P, 
then  enter  the  filename  you  wish 
the  new  file  to  have.  The  data  is 
saved  as  a  disk  file  of  that  name. 
Note  that  printing  to  disk  creates  a 
different  file  than  saving  to  disk: 
You  should  save  files  which  you 
wish  to  reload  into  SpeedCalc,  and 
print  files  which  you  wish  to  con- 
vert for  SpeedScript.  While  you  may 
pause  this  operation  with  SHIFT  as 
with  printer  output,  do  not  use 
RUN/STOP  to  abort  printing  to  disk. 
This  may  create  a  "poison"  (un- 
closed) file  which  can  safely  be  re- 
moved only  by  validating  the  disk. 


124    Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


SpeedScript  Integrator 

SpeedCalc  sends  data  to  the  printer 
in  simple,  plain  vanilla  form.  That 
may  be  fine  for  personal  use,  but  if 
you're  creating  a  document  for  oth- 
ers to  view,  you  may  want  special 
features  such  as  boldface,  underlin- 
ing, etc.  Since  SpeedScript  already 
offers  a  way  to  access  these  features 
(and  many  more),  no  attempt  has 
been  made  to  include  them  in 
SpeedCalc.  All  that's  needed  is  a 
simple  program  to  convert  Speed- 
Calc files  into  a  form  that  Speed- 
Script  can  load.  Th^"  you  can  edit 


the  file  with  SpeedScript  as  you 
would  any  other  document — in- 
serting printer  control  codes,  refor- 
matting the  text,  merging  it  with 
other  text,  and  so  on. 

Here  are  the  steps  to  follow  to 
convert  a  SpeedCalc  file  for  Speed- 
Script: 

1.  After  creating  a  spreadsheet  with 
SpeedCalc,  print  it  to  disk  as  de- 
scribed above. 

2.  Exit  SpeedCalc,  then  load  and  run 
the  "SS  Integrator".  The  program 
prompts  you  to  enter  the  name  of  the 


SpeedCalc  file  you  printed  to  disk. 
Then  it  asks  you  to  enter  the  name  of 
the  SpeedScript  file  you  want  to  cre- 
ate (of  course,  this  name  should  be 
different  from  the  first).  The  Integra- 
tor then  constructs  a  SpeedScript-loa- 
dable  disk  file  from  the  SpeedCalc 
fUe. 

3.  After  the  Integrator  is  finished, 
load  and  run  SpeedScript,  then  load 
the  new  SpeedScript  file  as  you 
would  any  SpeedScript  document. 
The  data  appears  on  the  screen, 
ready  to  be  edited  in  any  way  you 
wish.  ® 


Sequential  File 
Converter 

For  SpeedScript 


SpeedScript  becomes  an  even  more 
valuable  word  processor  with  this 
program  that  converts  sequential  files 
into  SpeedScript  format.  It's  written 
in  machine  language  for  fast  results. 
For  the  Commodore  64. 


I've  been  using  the  Commodore  64 
version  of  SpeedScript,  in  one  ver- 
sion or  another,  since  it  was  origi- 
nally published  in  the  January  1984 
issue  of  COMPUTEI's  Gazette.  The 
only  drawback  I've  ever  found  is  its 
incompafibility  with  sequential  files. 
{SpeedScript  uses  program  files.) 

My  database  uses  sequential 
files,  and  many  downloaded  pro- 
grams are  in  sequential  file  format. 
And  I  have  a  few  friends  that  use 
other  word  processors  that  create 
sequential  files.  In  short,  there  are 
many  instances  when  I'd  like  to 
load  a  sequential  file  into  Speed- 
Script. 


Ron  Cornell 


Over  the  years,  COMPUTE!  and 
COMPUTEI's  Gazette  have  published 
several  BASIC  programs  designed 
to  convert  sequential  files  into 
SpeedScript  files.  And  I've  used 
them,  mostly  with  great  success. 
But  BASIC  is  inherently  slow;  when 
my  database  started  creating  se- 
quential files  more  than  100  blocks 
long,  it  became  obvious  that  I 
needed  something  faster. 

"Sequential  File  Converter" 
(SFC),  the  program  accompanying 
this  article,  is  the  solution.  SFC  ac- 
comphshes  the  same  thing  as  the 
earlier  BASIC  conversion  pro- 
grams, but  at  the  speed  of  machine 
language. 

To  use  SFC,  you  need  only 
load  it  and  type  RUN.  YouTl  be 
prompted  for  the  name  of  the 
source  file  (the  sequential  file)  and 
for  the  name  you'd  like  for  the  new 
SpeedScript  file.  (Be  sure  to  have  the 
correct  disk  in  the  drive  when  you 
enter  the  destination  name.) 


If  you  load  SFC  and  type  LIST, 
you'll  find  several  lines  of  BASIC. 
With  one  exception,  you  should 
never  change  any  of  this  code.  The 
machine  language  is  attached  to  the 
end  of  the  BASIC  program,  and 
changing  any  of  the  BASIC  code 
will  almost  certainly  cause  SFC  to 
crash.  The  exception  is  line  140.  In 
this  line,  SFC  is  adding  ",s,r"  to  the 
end  of  your  source  filename.  The  s 
tells  the  disk  drive  to  access  a  se- 
quential file,  and  the  r  indicates  that 
it  should  be  read.  You  can,  in  this 
instance,  change  the  s  to  another 
letter  without  changing  the  length 
of  SFC  and  therefore  without  caus- 
ing the  machine  language  to  crash. 
You  might  wish  to  do  this  if  you 
want  to  change  a  file  format  other 
than  sequential  into  a  SpeedScript 
file.  For  example,  a  few  word  pro- 
cessors store  their  text  as  USR  files. 
By  changing  that  s  to  a  u,  you  could 
make  SFC  a  USR  converter  able  to 
access  USR  files.  0 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  ond  Gazette     125 


ScriptRead 


This  versatile  utility  allows  you  to 
read  any  SpeedScript /f/f  (version  2.x 
or  3.x)  at  high  speed.  Among  its  fea- 
tures are  automatic  word-wrapping 
and  word  counting.  It  also  has  a 
scratch  command  to  remove  unwanted 
files.  A  disk  drive  is  required. 


After  a  while,  your  SpeedScript 
disks  can  become  overcrowded 
with  files.  Even  with  the  most  de- 
scriptive of  filenames,  it's  hard  to 
remember  the  contents  of  every 
file.  "ScriptRead"  lets  you  read 
through  any  number  of  SpeedScript 
files,  scratching  any  that  are  no 
longer  needed.  And  since  Script- 
Read  works  so  fast,  it  can  also  help 
you  to  locate  a  parhcular  file — 
without  your  having  to  waste  time 


Buck  Chitdress 

loading  file  after  file  into  Speed- 
Script. 

Using  The  Program 

To  use  the  program,  load  it  and 
type  RUN.  The  program  asks  what 
you  would  like  to  do.  Press  M  to  see 
a  menu  of  your  options. 

You  may  change  the  screen 
colors  for  easier  viewing  by  press- 
ing T  to  change  the  text  color  and  B 
to  change  the  background  color. 

Press  D  to  see  the  disk  directory. 
Press  CTRL  to  slow  the  directory 
listing.  Press  Q  to  quit  the  listing. 

To  read  the  contents  of  a  file, 
press  R  and  then  type  the  name  of 
the  file.  ScriptRead  displays  the  file 
on  the  screen.  Since  ScriptRead  in- 
cludes an  automatic  word-wrap 
function,  you'll  never  have  to  con- 


tend with  words  that  are  split  be- 
tween two  lines.  Press  CTRL  to 
slow  the  listing,  any  function  key  to 
pause  it,  or  Q  to  quit  reading  the 
file.  When  the  end  of  the  file  is 
reached,  the  number  of  words  in 
the  file  is  displayed. 

PrcBS  S  to  scratch  a  file.  Script- 
Read  asks  for  the  name  of  the  file  to 
scratch.  Type  in  the  name  of  the  file 
you  wish  to  erase,  or  press  RE- 
TURN if  you  don't  wish  to  erase 
any  files. 

If  you  encounter  a  disk  error 
(your  disk  drive  light  blinks  on  and 
off),  press  E  to  read  the  error  chan- 
nel. See  your  disk  drive  manual  for 
an  explanation  of  disk  errors. 

You  may  press  RUN-STOP  at 
the  "What  would  you  like  to  do?" 
prompt  to  exit  ScriptRead.  © 


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1 26     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Free-Form  Filer 


It's  never  been  easier  to  store  recipes, 
magazine  indexes,  financial  infor- 
mation, or  addresses.  This  free-form 
database  features  power  through  sim- 
plicity— an  impressive  tool  for  the  64. 
A  disk  drive  is  required. 


"Free-Form  Filer"  is  like  a  deck  of 
index  cards  that  you  can  easily  add 
to  and  edit.  Advanced  features  let 
you  arrange  the  cards  in  the  order 
you  want,  hunt  for  key  phrases,  and 
print  a  card  to  a  printer.  When  you 
have  everything  in  the  file  just  the 
way  you  want  it,  simply  press  one 
key  to  save  the  entire  file  to  disk. 

The  program  is  written  to  be 
intuitive,  so  it's  very  easy  to  learn. 
Type  information  any  way  you 
want — the  program's  automatic 
centering  will  keep  all  your  data 
nice  and  neat. 

Free-Form  Filer  stores  infor- 
mation by  adding  to  itself.  That  is, 
the  information  you  enter  into  the 
Free-Form  Filer  database  becomes 
part  of  the  program,  and  the  pro- 
gram grows  longer  as  you  add  more 
information.  For  this  reason,  you 
must  use  a  separate  copy  of  Free-Form 
Filer  for  each  database  you  create.  For 
example,  if  you  want  to  set  up  an 
address  file,  a  recipe  file,  and  a 
household  inventory,  then  each  set 
of  information  needs  to  be  entered 
into  its  own  copy  of  the  Free- Form 
Filer  program.  Furthermore,  because 
the  program  always  saves  itself  back 
to  disk  with  the  same  name,  there 
can  be  only  one  copy  of  the  Free-Form 


David  Myles 


Filer  program  on  a  disk. 

You  should  save  one  copy  of 
the  program  with  no  data  added  as 
a  master  copy,  then  save  a  working 
copy  on  each  disk  on  which  you 
wish  to  create  a  database.  Because 
the  program  is  written  to  load  the 
same  way  a  BASIC  program  does, 
you  can  save  additional  copies  sim- 
ply by  using  the  standard  SAVE 
command.  Remember  that  all 
copies  must  have  the  name  FREE- 
FORM  FILER.  It  would  be  wise  to 
indicate  on  the  disk's  label  what 
type  of  information  is  contained  in 
the  copy  of  Free-Form  Filer  on  that 
particular  disk. 

Making  A  Note 

Load  Free-Form  Filer  the  way  you 
would  load  a  BASIC  program 
(LOAD  "FREE-FORM  F1LER",8); 
then  type  RUN.  You'll  see  a  menu 
at  the  bottom  of  the  screen: 

Hunt  Re-try  Add  Print  Fwd  Back 
Change  Dlete  Tobuff  Save  Insbuff 

This  menu  is  always  visible,  so 
you  don't  have  to  worry  about 
memorizing  a  set  of  commands.  At 
this  point,  Free-Form  Filer  asks  you 
to  select  from  the  menu.  To  start, 
we  want  to  add  to  the  file,  so  press 
A.  You'll  see  a  message  which  says 
that  a  carriage  return  (RETURN) 
stores  the  line,  and  that  a  RETURN 
on  a  blank  line  ends  data  entry.  To 
see  how  it  works,  type  these  lines, 
pressing  RETURN  after  each: 

FREE-FORM  FILER 

FEATURES  AUTOMATIC  CENTERING 


Then,  press  RETURN  on  a 
blank  line.  Free-Form  Filer  makes  a 
card  with  the  information  that  you 
entered.  This  card  is  the  first  in  the 
deck.  (In  Free-Form  Filer,  a  card 
corresponds  to  one  screen  of  infor- 
mation— up  to  23  lines  of  text.) 
Press  A  again  to  make  another  card. 
Then  type 

TYPIGN  ERRORS  ARE  EASY  TO 
CORRECT. 

and  press  RETURN  twice.  Now 
press  B  (Back)  to  view  the  first  card. 
It's  impossible  to  back  up  beyond 
this  card.  Press  F  to  go  forward. 
You'll  see  the  second  card  again.  To 
correct  the  misspelled  word, 
TYPIGN,  press  C  (Change).  Correct 
the  word  by  using  the  cursor  keys 
to  move  to  the  error,  and  then  typ- 
ing over  the  incorrect  letters.  When 
you've  made  the  change,  be  sure  to 
press  RETURN  before  moving  the 
cursor  off  the  screen  line. 

Each  time  you  enter  a  line,  it's 
saved  in  the  computer's  memory. 
The  computer  uses  all  these  lines  to 
build  the  index  card.  It's  easy  to 
enter  duplicate  lines — just  press 
RETURN  several  times  on  the  same 
line.  Be  sure  not  to  press  RETURN 
on  a  blank  line  until  you've  pressed 
RETURN  on  all  the  lines  you  want 
to  be  saved  on  the  card — this  ap- 
plies when  you're  entering  data  for 
the  first  time  and  when  you're  edit- 
ing it. 

If,  while  entering  information 
on  a  card,  you  notice  a  mistake  in  a 
previous  line,  do  not  cursor  up  and 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     127 


correct  the  error.  Instead,  finish  en- 
tering the  rest  of  the  information  for 
the  card,  press  RETURN  on  a  blank 
line  to  enter  the  card,  and  then  use 
the  C  option  to  go  back  and  change 
the  mistake. 

Because  blank  lines  are  used  to 
terminate  data  entry,  it's  impossible 
to  use  them  to  separate  text  on  the 
screen.  If  you  want  to  separate  lines, 
enter  a  shifted  space  (hold  down 
SHIFT  while  pressing  the  space  bar) 
as  the  only  character  on  the  line. 
Alternatively,  you  can  use  a  charac- 
ter like  a  period  or  minus  sign. 

Free-Form  Filer  makes  it  easy 
to  arrange  the  order  of  the  cards. 
Press  B  until  you  back  up  to  the  first 
card.  Then  press  T  (To  buffer).  The 
first  card  is  now  being  held  in  a 
buffer.  Now  press  F  (Forward)  to  go 
past  the  second  card.  Press  I  (Insert 
buffer).  The  contents  of  the  buffer 
are  now  placed  after  the  second 
page.  (Whenever  you  press  I,  the 
contents  of  the  buffer  are  stored  in  a 
new  card  in  front  of  the  card  cur- 
rently on  the  screen.)  Use  B  and  F  to 
see  that  the  first  card  has  been 
moved  to  the  end. 

You  should  be  aware  that  any- 


time you  use  the  C  option  to  change 
a  card,  that  card  will  be  moved  to 
the  end  of  the  deck.  If  the  order  of 
the  cards  is  important  to  you,  then 
you'll  have  to  follow  the  procedure 
to  move  the  card  back  to  its  desired 
position  after  changes  are  made. 

If  you  decide  that  you  want  to 
throw  out  a  card,  press  D  (Delete). 
Free-Form  Filer  will  ask  if  you're 
sure.  If  you  press  Y,  the  card  will  be 
deleted. 

Printing.  Searching, 
And  Saving 

Sooner  or  later,  you'll  probably 
want  a  printout  of  your  data.  When 
you  do,  just  press  P  for  a  printed 
version  of  the  card  currently  dis- 
played on  your  screen. 

The  most  powerful  feature  of 
Free-Form  Filer  is  Hunt.  When  you 
want  to  search  for  a  word  or  phrase, 
just  press  H.  (For  Hunt  to  work 
properly,  you  should  be  positioned 
at  the  first  card  in  the  deck  before 
pressing  H.)  The  program  will  ask 
for  the  phrase.  Type  it  in,  following 
it  with  a  RETURN.  Free-Form  Filer 
will  find  and  display  the  first  card 
with  the  phrase  you  indicated.  To 


search  for  the  next  occurrence, 
press  R  (Retry). 

When  you've  finished  editing 
your  cards,  press  S  to  save  them  to 
disk.  Free-Form  Filer  scratches  its 
program  file  from  disk  and  replaces 
it  with  the  program  plus  all  the 
notecards  you  have  entered.  The 
next  time  you  want  to  edit  or  read 
your  cards,  just  load  Free-Form 
Filer — all  your  cards  will  be  there. 

Be  very  careful  that  you  don't 
hit  the  RUN/STOP-RESTORE  com- 
bination while  using  Free-Form 
Filer.  If  you  do,  all  the  changes  made 
since  the  program  was  loaded  will 
be  lost  when  you  run  the  program 
again  to  restart  it.  The  cards  will  still 
appear  on  the  screen  if  you  flip 
through  the  file,  but  the  changes 
will  not  be  saved  to  disk.  To  reenter 
the  changes,  you  must  move  to  the 
first  card  in  the  file,  then  use  the  C 
option  and  press  RETURN  on  every 
line  of  every  card. 

By  saving  Free-Form  Filer  to 
several  disks,  you  can  keep  several 
different  types  of  files,  if  you  ever 
want  to  clear  out  all  the  cards  in  a 
deck  to  start  a  new  file,  just  use  D 
(Delete)  on  each  card.  © 


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There  are  no  hidden  fees  for  shipping  or  documentation,  and  no  dubs  to  |Otn.  The 
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It  supports  all  available  pnnters.  and  wiH  run  on  any  Commodore  computer  (except 
Amiga]  with  a  minimum  of  1 0k  RAfvl.  including  the  C-1 28  in  C-1 28  mode. 
What  you  get  when  you  order  the  Package: 

Oetabai*— A  complete  database  men-  DBStat,  DBStatS— analyze  D/B  fdes. 
ager.  All  fields  completely  user-defmabie 
Can  be  used  for  any  number  of  tasks,  nbud- 
tng  accounting,  checkbook  and  tax  records, 
niailrig  Ists,  nventory  control,  catatog  marv 
tenance,  orasan  electronic  rolodex.  A  cus- 
tomer wntes:  "/  am  espeaally  impressed 
with  Database,  and  have  used  It  to  replace 
ahdf-dozen  other  'dXetjase'-typeprogrems 
I  had  been  using." 

Word  Proc«aw)r— A  M-teaured  menu- 
(»Tven  word  processor,  AJlOws  full  control 
over  margins,  spacma.  pagng,  indentation, 
aid  juBOficaun.  "Higfiy recornmended."  — 
MkJnite  Software  Gazette,  "Provides  good 
basic  features."  —  Cornpute's  Gazette. 
Cepycalc— An  elecu^nic  spreadsheet. 
"Excellent  program  for  budgeting,  estimat- 
ing, or  any  math-onented  use  .  .  .  weH 
worth  the  money.  Highfy  reammended. "  — 
Midnite  Softvsiare  Gazette. 
RepertOwi — creates  form  letters,  meing 
lables,  etc, 

RaportMarge— creates   statements 
FivoceB. 

Seeebell  Stace— comptes  team  battng 
statistjcs. 

Index— indexes  W/P's  text  fries. 
WPCoiiwart— converts  fries  to  other  WP 
formats, 

DBMerge— facilitates  reletional  D/B 
appllcatxvis. 

Intelligent  Software 

Quality  Software  since  1 982 


ASCII— converts  text  fites  mto  program 

f)tes. 

Chackboah — reconciles  checkbook. 

I nwantory— Maintains  nventory  records. 

Paper  Route— A/R  for  paper  route. 

Loan  Anal yaia— computes  finance  terms. 

pmts  scheduies. 

Braeketfon    computes  breekeven  analysE. 

Dapractat  Ion— creates   depreciation 

schedules. 

Labeler— creates  labels. 

File  Coplar— copies  sequential,  program 

fries. 

Correlation —calculates  statistical  cor- 

relatjon. 

Also  other  Database  and  Word  Processor 

utriities. 


To  order,  send  name,  address,  and 
S1 9,95  to  address  bekiw.  Please  speci- 
fy reoiiar  (1541/1571/2040/4040/ 
2031]  disk,  BO 50**.  or cBBsetce (cas- 
sette not  Bvaiiable  for  Plus  4  or  C-1 6). 
Add  £3  for  COD  orders :  credit  cards  not 
accepted.  CaM.  residents  add  6%.  No 
personal  checks  from  outside  USA.  A 
samplinQ  of  program  output  is  avariable 
for  £1 ,  Tear  thie  ed  out  and  keep  it 
handyl 


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San  Anselmo.  CA  94960 

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TurboDisk  64 


Impossible  as  it  seems,  "TurboDisk 
64"  speeds  up  the  1541  disk  drive's 
loading  time  300  percent  or  more — in 
fact,  the  longer  the  program,  the  more 
the  gain.  Also  in  this  issue,  you'll  find 
several  programs  which  expand  the 
power  of  TurboDisk:  "TurboDisk  Re- 
locator"  and  "Turbo  Boot  Maker." 


If  you've  ever  used  a  really  fast  disk 
drive,  you  know  that  the  Commo- 
dore 1541  drive  leaves  something 
to  be  desired — namely,  speed. 
True,  it's  much  faster  than  a  Datas- 
sette,  but  it's  still  annoyingly  slow 
compared  to  other  floppy  disk 
drives  with  high-speed  parallel  in- 
terfaces. Now  there's  a  solution: 
"TurboDisk  64." 

Once  you  start  using  Turbo- 
Disk, you'll  wonder  how  you  got 
along  without  it.  TurboDisk  turbo- 
charges  the  loading  process  by  a 
factor  of  three  times  or  more.  In 
fact,  the  longer  the  program,  the 
more  improvement  you'll  see. 

TurboDisk  requires  no  modifi- 
cations to  your  disk  drive  or  com- 
puter. It  loads  programs  saved  in 
the  usual  manner;  no  special  Turbo- 
save  is  required.  It  works  with  most 
BASIC  and  machine  language  pro- 
grams, including  the  DOS  Wedge. 
It  does  not  compromise  reliability. 
And  you  can  switch  it  on  or  off  at 
any  time  by  typing  a  single 
command. 

If  you're  still  skeptical,  give 
TurboDisk  a  try — it  delivers  what  it 
promises. 

To  load  TurboDisk,  use  the 
command  LOAD  "TURBODISK 
64",8,1.  Next,  type  NEW  and  press 
RETURN  to  reset  important  memo- 


Don  Lewis 


ry  pointers,  then  SYS  49152  to  acti- 
vate the  program.  The  message 
TURBODISK  ACTIVATED  signals 
that  you're  ready  for  high-speed 
loading. 

Turbocharged  LOADs 

Once  TurboDisk  is  activated,  no 
special  commands  are  necessary. 
Just  type  LOAD  "filename",S  or 
LOAD" filename" ,S,1  as  usual. 
You'll  be  amazed  at  the  difference. 

One  thing  you'll  notice  imme- 
diately is  that  the  red  light  on  the 
disk  drive  doesn't  come  on  at  all 
during  a  Turboload,  Don't  panic; 
this  is  normal.  It's  also  normal  for 
the  64's  SCTeen  to  blank  out  as  Turbo- 
Disk works.  When  the  program  is 
loaded,  the  screen  reappears  un- 
altered. 

You  may  occasionally  find  it 
necessary  to  deactivate  TurboDisk 
and  use  a  normal  LOAD  instead. 
For  example,  1541  disk  drives  are 
prone  to  head-alignment  problems, 
so  if  you  have  a  disk  formatted  on  a 
drive  other  than  your  own,  you 
may  find  that  your  drive  has  diffi- 
culty loading  programs  from  it. 
Since  the  Turboload  routine  gives 
up  more  easily  on  difficult  LOADs, 
you  may  have  to  switch  to  the  more 
forgiving  standard  LOAD  to  get  the 
program  into  your  computer.  You 
can  switch  off  TurboDisk  at  any 
time  without  erasing  it  from  memo- 
ry by  entering  SYS  49155  (you 
should  see  the  message  TURBO- 
DISK DISABLED).  To  reactivate 
TurboDisk,  enter  SYS  49152. 

You'll  also  find  it  necessary  to 
use  the  SYS  to  reactivate  TurboDisk 
after  pressing  RUN/STOP-RE- 
STORE, which  effectively  discon- 
nects TurboDisk. 


TurboDisk  resides  in  the  4K 
block  of  free  memory  starting  at 
address  49152  (hex  $C000),  so  it's 
completely  safe  from  BASIC.  How- 
ever, many  other  machine  language 
programs  or  subroutines  also  use 
this  memory  space  and  may  over- 
write TurboDisk.  Don't  attempt  to 
use  TurboDisk  to  load  any  program 
which  occupies  locations  49152- 
50431  ($C000-$C4FF).  If  the  pro- 
gram you  wish  to  Turboload  uses 
this  area  of  memory,  you  can  use 
"TurboDisk  Relocator,"  found  else- 
where in  this  issue, 

TurboDisk  speeds  up  LOADs, 
but  it  can't  speed  up  SAVEs  or 
VERIFYs.  It  also  doesn't  affect  the 
speed  of  disk  file  handling  with 
OPEN,  PRINT#,  GET#,  and  so 
forth.  It's  not  compatible  with  cer- 
tain features  of  some  programs, 
such  as  loading  text  files  with 
SpeedScript,  although  you  can  use 
TurboDisk  to  load  SpeedScript  in 
the  first  place.  It  also  may  not  work 
with  some  commercial  software. 

How  TurboDisk  Works 

The  machine  language  for  Turbo- 
Disk is  unusual  in  that  only  half  of 
it  works  within  your  computer — 
the  rest  is  actually  executed  within 
the  1541  drive  itself.  Commodore 
disk  drives  are  intelligent  units, 
containing  their  own  microproces- 
sors, RAM,  and  ROM.  This  means 
that  they  can  be  programmed  for 
special  effects,  like  turboloading. 

During  the  brief  delay  you  no- 
tice between  the  time  you  enter  the 
LOAD  command  with  TurboDisk 
and  the  time  the  drive  starts  spin- 
ning, 444  bytes  of  machine  lan- 
guage are  transferred  from  the 
computer  to  the  drive's  RAM.  In  the 


Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette     129 


BUZZWORD  — An  aid  to  the  best 
source  of  good  times. 

As  home  computers  come  of  age,  more  and 
more  games  are  being  developed  to  meet 
the  diverse  tastes  at  the  family.  With  these 
have  a  come  a  number  of  games  reminiscent 
of  old  precomputar  favorites,  such  as  the 
tx>ard  game  Monopoly,  the  parlor  game 
charades,  end  skill  and  thinking  games  like 
ScratDUeor  Trivial  Pursuit.  The  rjewer  computer 
games,  instead  of  placing  the  computer  at 
center  stage  the  way  standard  video-games 
do,  use  It  as  an  adjunct,  an  aid  to  the  best 
source  of  good  times:  the  interaction  of 
family  and  friends. 

Buzzword  is  a  solid  example  of  this  hind  of 
game.  It  stimulates,  it  teaches,  and  it's  fun. 
Geared  to  those  ages  ten  and  up,  it  provides 
challenging  entertainment  for  the  who/e  family 
Buzzword  is  a  big  hit  with  our  family.  It  bills 
itself  as  ranging  "from  a  simple  word  guessing 
game      to  a  sophisticated  strategy-filled 
test  of  your  knowledge",  a  game  to  appeal 
to  trivia  buffs,  word  games  aficionados,  and 
puzzle-solvers."  It  is.  It  does.  The  mental 
exercise  of  Buzzword  sha^ens  wits,  and 
has  enlarged  our  daughter's  vocabulary, 
and  spelling  skills. 

Excerpts  from  review  by 

Robin  &  David  Mrnnick 

COMPUTES  Gazette  July  1987 

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LANDMARK  vl.O 

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64,  it  is  stored  in  locations  49664- 
50107  ($C200-$C3BB).  This  re- 
quired transfer  of  data  before  each 
Turboload  adds  a  certain  amount  of 
overhead  time,  which  explains  why 
TurboDisk  gives  less  speed  im- 
provement for  short  programs. 

TurboDisk  operates  by  chang- 
ing the  ILOAD  vector  at  locations 
816-817  ($330-$331)  to  point  to 
itself,  bypassing  the  normal  LOAD 
routines  in  ROM.  TurboDisk  first 
checks  to  see  whether  a  disk  direc- 
tory (LOAD  "$",8)  or  a  VERIFY 
was  requested.  In  either  of  these 
cases,  control  is  returned  to  the 
ROM  routines  for  normal  process- 
ing. If  a  program  LOAD  was  re- 
quested, the  routine  adds  the 
filename  to  the  code  for  the  disk 
drive  portion,  then  transfers  that 
data  to  the  drive's  memory. 

The  portion  of  TurboDisk  in 
the  disk  drive  uses  routines  in  the 
drive's  ROM  to  locate  the  desired 
program  and  read  it  from  the  disk 
sector  by  sector.  To  improve  speed, 
routines  like  the  one  that  turns  on 
the  red  light  are  omitted,  and  only 
the  essential  ones  are  used.  The  256 
bytes  of  data  from  each  disk  sector 
are  transferred  two  bits  at  time  to  a 
256-byte  buffer  within  the  com- 
puter. In  the  64,  this  buffer  is  at 
locations  50176-50431  ($C400- 
$C4FF). 

TurboDisk  machine  language 
in  the  computer  reads  the  incoming 
data  from  the  serial  port's  DATA 
and  CLK  lines,  instead  of  just  the 
DATA  line  as  in  normal  serial  data 
transfers.  Thus,  TurboDisk  tempo- 
rarily converts  your  serial  bus  into  a 
two-bit  parallel  bus.  When  the  en- 
tire 256  bytes  from  a  disk  sector 
have  been  transferred  into  the  com- 
puter's buffer,  data  from  the  buffer 
is  added  to  the  program  in  memory 
while  the  drive  is  reading  the  next 
sector  from  the  disk. 

Just  How  Fast  Is  It? 

Despite  a  few  limitations,  Turbo- 
Disk is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
general -purpose  utilities  a  disk  user 
can  own.  To  discover  exactly  how 
fast  it  is,  we  ran  some  tests.  The 
results,  below,  demonstrate  how 
TurboDisk  yields  the  most  im- 
provement with  medium  to  long 
programs.  (Results  with  different 
disk  drives  may  vary.) 


Program      Blocks  Normal  Turbo-  Factor 


LOAD  load 

21  sec  7  sec  3.0 

13  sec  5  sec  2.6 

31  sec  9  sec  3.4 

7  sec  5  sec  1.4 

18  sec  6  sec  3.0 


Program  1  31 
Program  2  17 
Program  3  45 
Program  4  8 

Program  5        25 

Program  6  122      75  sec     17  sec       4.4 


Special  Note  To 
1 28  Owners 

For  those  128  owners  who  use  a 
1541  disk  drive:  When  you're  in  64 
mode,  you  can  load  and  run  Turbo- 
Disk 64  as  listed.  For  128  mode 
(and  a  1541),  see  "TurboDisk  128" 
elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

If  you  own  a  1571  disk  drive, 
you  don't  need  a  Turbo  program 
while  you're  in  128  mode — the  128 
and  1571  are  capable  of  using  the 
fast  serial  transfer  hardware  built 
into  the  disk  drive  and  computer. 
The  128/1571  combination  is  twice 
as  fast  as  TurboDisk  at  its  best,  and 
about  eight  times  faster  than  the 
1541  alone.  The  1571  slows  down  to 
the  154rs  sluggish  pace  when 
you're  in  64  mode,  however.  To 
speed  up  the  1571/64  mode  combi- 
nation, you  can  use  TurboDisk  64, 
But  first  you  must  tell  the  1571  to  act 
like  a  1541  vAth  the  following  line: 

OPEN  15,8,15,  "U0>MO":  CLOSE  15 

To  go  back  to  1571  operations, 
change  the  second  zero  to  a  one 
("U0>M1").  However,  you  must 
make  a  decision.  You  can  use  dou- 
ble-sided disks  while  the  128  is  in 
64  mode  and  the  drive  is  in  1571 
mode,  but  not  while  using  Turbo- 
Disk 64.  Or  you  can  use  TurboDisk 
to  speed  up  the  1571  drive  in  1541 
mode,  but  then  you  cannot  use 
both  sides  of  a  disk.  It's  up  to  you: 
fast  operations  limited  to  one  side 
of  the  disk  or  slow  loads  and  access 
to  both  sides  of  a  disk. 


Note  to  readers  outside  North 
America:  High-speed  TurboDisk 
data  transfers  rely  on  precise 
timing,  so  the  program  may  fail 
to  operate  on  systems  that  use 
the  European  PAL  video  system 
instead  of  the  North  American 
NTSC  system.  The  reason  is 
rather  technical — 64s  with  PAL 
video  use  a  slightly  different 
microprocessor  clock  frequency. 


130    Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


Commodore  Product  Potpourri 

Hardware,  Software  &  Firmware  for  your  C-64,  C-64C,  C-128,  AMIGA 


BASIC  PROGRAMMING  AID 

VICTREE  is  a  BASIC  programming  aid  cartridge 
for  me  VIC-20  and  C-64/C-64C  compuler 
VICTREE  adds  42  extra  commands  for  BASIC 
programming  ease  and  lull  DOS  control 
VICTREE  commands  include  CHAIN,  EXECUTE, 
MERGE,  SEND,  USE,  CONCAT,  DOPEN, 
DCLOSE,  RECORD,  HEADER,  COLLECT. 
BACKUP,  COPY,  APPEND,  OSAVE.  DLOAD, 
DIRECTORY,  RENAME,  SCRATCH,  CATALOG, 
INITIALIZE,  AUTO.  DELETE,  RENUf^BER, 
MERGE,  LCOPY  LMOVE,  PRINT  USING,  FIND, 
CHANGE,  PAGE.  HELP  DUMP,  and  TRACE. 


VICTREE  64  Cartridge,  C-64/C-64C 
VtCTREE  20  Cartridge,  VIC-20 


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BASIC  PROGRAM  COMPILER 

BLITZ!  is  the  fastest,  easiest  lo  use,  most 
popular,  BASIC  program  compiler  available  for 
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ASSEMBLER  CARTRIDGE 

If  your  C-64  programming  needs  have 
extended  beyond  BASIC,  Skyles  Electric 
works  now  offers  MIKRO,  a  machine 
language  assembler  cartridge  lor  the 
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language  programming. 
MIKRO  Cartridge,  C-64/C-64C     .       $49.95* 

M.L.  UTILITY  TRIO 

ZOOM  is  the  perfect  machine  language 
monitor  lor  the  Commodore  C-64/C-64C,  with 
23  editing  commands  and  11  disk  commands. 
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applied  to  editing  and  writing  machine 
language  programs.  STP  is  a  ML  Step-Wise 
Executor  that  is  on"?  of  the  nicest  ML 
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tremendous  Ino  now  in  one  package. 
ZOOM-TD-STP,  C-64/C-64C $29.95* 

DISK  ALIGNMENT  KIT 

1541/1571  Disk  Alignment  Kit  is  the  dO-it 

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1541/15410/1571  Disk  Alignment 
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The2  for  1  Monitor  Cat>le  allows  ail  composite 
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1541  FLASH! 

The  new  Skyles  Electric  Works  1541  FLASH! 
loads  programs  and  files  to  your  Commodore 
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limes  laster  than  an  unenhanced  Commodore 
1541  disk  drive.  1541  FLASH!  saves  programs 
20  to  50  percent  faster  1541  FLASHIformats 
a  diskette  m  25  seconds,  a  real  flash. 
The  1541  FLASH!  IS  a  permanent  hardware 
installation  in  your  Commodore  64/64C  and 
Commodore  126  (64  mode)  and  1541  disk 
drive.  No  programs  to  load,  no  cartndge  hassles. 

We  have  special  versions  of  Ihe  1541  FLASH! 
forlheSX-64  and  two  1541s. 

In  addition  to  its  blinding  speed  ol  program  and 
file  loading,  the  1541  FLASH!  adds  over  50 
extra  commands  for  the  Commodore 
64/64C/126  user.  These  include  a  built-in 
DOSAVedge.  Easy  Editor,  and  FLASHIwlON! 
machine  language  monitor. 

1541  FLASH!  C-64/C-64C&  1541         $69.95* 
1541  FLASH!  C-64/C-64C  & 

two1541s     $109.95' 

C-1 28  FLASH!  C-1 28  &  1541 $79.95* 

C-128  FLASHIC-126& 

two  1541s $119.95* 

SX-64  FLASH!  SX-64  a  1541     $69.95* 

SX-64  FLASH!  SX-64& 

two  1541 $109.95* 


A  powerful  panoply  of  pertinent, 
potent,  peripheral  products 


QUICKSILVER  128 

QUICKSILVER  128  our  premier  /EEE-488 
Interlace  tor  the  Commodore  126  is  now  in 
stock  and  even  belter  than  we  had  planned. 
Quicksilver  126  offers  an  IEEE  Interface  for 
Ihe  Commodore  128  in  Ihe  C-128  mode  (40  or 
80  columns)  and  m  the  C-64  mode  as  well, 
QUICKSILVER  128  will  inter-connectyour 
Commodore  128  to  Commodore  SFD  1001, 
2031,  2040.  3040,  4040.  8050,  8250,  9060, 
9090  Disk  Drives,  and  2022. 2023. 4022, 4023 
and  8023  Printers. 
QUICKSILVER  128  C-128  $119.95* 


A  priceless  programmers  pallett  of 
practical  products  and  programs 


IEEE  Flash!  64 

IEEE  Flasti!  64  our  premier  IEEE-488 
Interface  for  the  Commodore  64  is  now  in 
slock  and  even  more  transparent  (program 
compatible)  than  QUICKSILVER  64  IEEE 
Flash!  64  will  inler-connect  your  Commodore 
64 10  Commodore  SFD  1001, 2031,  2040, 
3040. 4040,  8050,  8250, 9060,  and  9090  Disk 
Drives,  and  2022, 2023. 4022,  4023,  and  8023 
Printers. 
IEEE  Flash!  64  C-64/C-64C  $99,95* 

2  +  1,4  +  1  CARTRIDGE 
EXPANSION 

Our  2  -r  1  Cartridge  Expansion  gives  you  2 
vertical  and  1  horizontal  fully  switchable 
cartridge  ports.  Our  4'  1  Cartridge  Expansion 
gives  you  4  vertical  and  1  horizontal  fully 
switchable  cartridge  ports. 
2-^1  Cartridge  Exp. 

C-64/C-64CorC-12e $39.95* 

4^1  Cartridge  Exp, 

C-64/C-64CorC-128 $69.95* 


1571  FIX  ROM 

Relative  File  problems?  "DEVICE  NOT 
PRESENT"  errors?  I/O  error  5  when  using 
Superbase?  Major  problems  when  you  have  2 
or  more  files  open?  Painlully  slow  writing  to  the 
second  side  ol  the  diskette?  SAVE  with  replace 
problems?  Takes  forever  to  recognize  a  "Flippy" 
disk?  II  you  have  one  or  more  of  these  problems 
with  your  Commodore  1571  disk  drive,  don't 
despair,  don't  trash  your  1571,  do  get  a: 
1571  FIX  ROM    $24.95* 


A  powerful  panoply  of  pertinent, 
potent,  peripheral  products. 


VIDEO  DIGITIZER 

The  VIDEO-DIGITIZER  module  plugged  into  the 
user  port  of  your  C-64/C-64C/C-1 28  allows  you 
to  digitize  video  signals,  ol  whatever  kind,  show 
them  on  the  screen,  store  or  process  Ihem  and 
print  them  out.  The  digitizer  can  be  connected  lo 
any  standard:  video  camera  (bSw  or  color). 
VCR,  or  video  disk  player.  The  applications  are 
unlimited.  An  accompany  diskette  contains 
programs  to;  Digitize  a  256  by  256  pixel  picture 
in  4  shades  ol  gray,  replace  gray  shades  with 
colors,  save  complete  256  by  256  pixel  picture, 
or  160  by  200  Koala  format,  printout  on 
Commodore  1515. 1525, 601. 802. 803, 1526. 
Epson,  StarMicronix,  {and  compatibles) 
Canon  PJ1080A.  Okimate  20.  and  GP-700A 
color  pnnters. 

All  this  is  lor  an  amazingly  low  price. 
VIDEO-DIGITIZER, 
C-64/C-64C/C-128    $149.95* 

BUSIDATA'" 

BUSIDATA  features  up  to  1000  records  per  1541 
data  disk,  2000  records  per  1571  data  disk. 
6000  per  SFD-  tOOO  data  disk,  and  over  20.000 
records  per  SEW/JCT-1002  hard  disk  drive  (see 
page  5).  Each  record  can  contain  up  lo  254 
characters  and  20  lields  ol  up  to  79  characters 
per  lield.  BUSIDATA  features  up  to  20  keys  and 
live  levels  ol  sc  rling  on  these  on  these  keys. 
Also  featured  Sre  easy  lo  use  menu  driven  data 
selection  and  handling  features,  that  include 
RS-232  printer  output, 
BUSIDATA  64.  C-64  Disk $39,95* 


A  major  manufacturers  magnificent 
multitude,  magnanimously  mer- 
chandised for  minimal  money. 


FAMILY  TREE 

Truly  a  program  for  the  whole  family,  your 
wife's  family,  your  parent's  family,  grandpa- 
rent's family,  and  as  many  generations  back 
as  you  wish.  FAMILY  TREE  is  Ihe  best 
genealogy  program  for  the  C-64/C-64  Cor 
C-128.  Features  unlimited  genealogies.  4,  5,  6, 
generation  pedigrees,  lamily  record  sheet  and 
much  more. 

FAMILYTREE,  C-64/C-64C-1 541 $49.95* 

FAMILY  TREE, 

C-64/C-64C/1541  (LDS)  $49.95* 

FAMILYTREE.  C-128/1541/1S71     $49.95* 


"Due  to  trade  games  being  played  by  U.S.  and  Japan  all  prices  are  subject  to  change  without  notice.  There 
is  an  additional  $4.50  U.S.  and  Canada,  $15.00  Europe  and  Asia,  shipping  charge  per  order.  Calilornia 
residents  add  sates  tax. 

TO  ORDER:  Call  1  -800-227-9998  or  1  -415-965-1735  (CA)  or  write  to: 
For  More  Information:  Send  Stamped  Self  Addressed  Envelope  to; 


231  -E  South  Whisman  Road,  Mountain  View.  CA  94041 


Turbo  BootMaker 


This  program  makes  "TurboDisk  64" 
even  more  useful.  It  creates  a  boot 
program  that  lets  you  load  any  pro- 
gram at  turbo  speed — without  using 
TurboDisk.  And  after  turboloading,  it 
automatically  runs.  For  the  Commo- 
dore 64  and  1541  disk  drive. 


One  of  my  favorite  programs  from 
COMPUTE!'s  GAZETTE  is  "Turbo- 
Disk" for  the  Commodore  64.  It 
greatly  speeds  up  the  loading  time 
of  the  ordinarily  slow  1541  disk 
drive.  To  enhance  the  use  of  this 
excellent  utility,  I  wrote  "Turbo 
BootMaker/'  which  lets  you  auto- 
boot  your  programs  at  turbo  speed 
without  loading  TurboDisk. 

Making  The  Boot 

After  typing  in  Turbo  BootMaker, 
save  a  copy.  To  use  it,  load  it  and 
type  RUN.  (If  you're  using  Turbo- 
Disk, be  sure  to  disable  it  before  you 
run  Turbo  BootMaker.)  The  screen 
prompts  make  the  program  very 
easy  to  use.  First,  insert  your  disk 
with  a  copy  of  TurboDisk.  You're 
asked  to  enter  the  TurboDisk  file- 
name {the  name  you  used  to  save  it 
on  your  disk).  Be  sure  to  use  an 
appropriate  version  of  TurboDisk. 
The  normal  version  works  for  turbo- 
booting  BASIC  programs  and  some 
machine  language  (ML)  programs. 
However,  it  cannot  be  used  to  turbo- 
boot  ML  programs  that  load  at  its 
own  address,  49152  {$C000  hexa- 
decimal). To  turbo  boot  an  ML  pro- 
gram that  resides  at  49152,  you 
must  use  a  version  of  TurboDisk 
that  resides  elsewhere  in  memory. 
The  "TurboDisk  Relocator"  pro- 
gram elsewhere  in  this  issue  lets  you 
create  versions  of  TurboDisk  that 
can  work  from  other  memory  loca- 
tions. After  you  enter  the  filename, 
there  will  be  a  short  delay  as  the 
TurboDisk  file  is  read  into  memory. 
You're  then  asked  to  insert  the 


Bert  Rozenberg 

disk  on  which  you  wish  to  create 
the  turbobooter  file.  The  next 
prompt  asks  for  the  filename  of  the 
program  you  want  to  turboboot.  (If 
you  press  RETURN  only  at  this 
prompt,  the  wildcard  {*)  character 
will  be  used  as  the  filename.)  If  a 
copy  of  that  program  is  not  already 
present  on  the  disk,  you'll  be  re- 
minded to  add  a  copy  after  you 
finish  creating  the  turbobooter. 
Turbo  BootMaker  does  not  alter  the 
program  to  be  turbobooted;  in- 
stead, it  creates  a  file  that  automati- 
cally  loads  TurboDisk,  then 
turboloads  the  specified  program 
and  starts  it  running.  A  copy  of  the 
program  to  be  turbobooted  must  be 
on  the  same  disk  as  the  turbobooter 
file.  That  copy  can  always  be  load- 
ed and  run  normally  independently 
of  its  associated  turbobooter  file. 

You're  asked  if  the  program  to 
be  turbobooted  is  BASIC  or  ML 
(machine  language).  Press  B  or  M.  If 
it's  ML,  you're  asked  for  the  start- 
ing address,  which  can  be  entered 
in  either  decimal  or  hexadecimal 
(you  must  precede  hex  values  with 
a  $).  For  example,  if  the  command 
to  start  the  program  is  SYS  49152, 
you  can  answer  the  starting  address 
prompt  with  either  49152  or  $C000. 
You  should  note  that  many  of  the 
major  machine  language  programs 
published  in  the  GAZETTE  are  de- 
signed to  be  loaded  and  run  as  if 
they  were  BASIC.  Such  programs 
usually  start  at  address  2049 
($0801).  For  these  programs  you 
should  select  B  (BASIC),  not  M 
(machine  language),  at  this  prompt. 
If  you  select  M  and  specify  2049  or 
$0801  as  the  starting  address,  the 
program  will  crash  after  loading.  As 
a  rule,  if  you  start  a  program  with 
RUN,  select  option  B;  if  you  start  it 
with  a  SYS,  select  option  M. 

Last,  you're  prompted  to  give  a 
filename  to  the  new  turbobooting 
program  (do  not  use  the  wildcard 


convention).  It  would  be  wise  to 
use  a  filename  which  indicates  that 
this  is  a  turbobooter  file,  and  which 
program  it  turboboots.  For  ex- 
ample, you  might  use  the  name 
SS.TBOOT  for  a  file  which  turbo- 
boots  SpeedScript.  After  you  enter 
the  filename,  there  will  be  another 
short  delay  as  the  turbobooter  file  is 
written  to  disk. 

At  this  point,  you've  created  a 
boot  program  that  will  automatical- 
ly load  the  specified  program  at 
turbo  speed  every  time  you  run  it.  It 
also  runs  the  program  after  it's  been 
loaded.  You  don't  need  to  have 
TurboDisk  on  the  same  disk — all 
you  have  to  do  is  LOAD  "file- 
name",8,l  (be  sure  to  include  the  ,1) 
where  filename  is  the  name  of  the 
turboboot  file  you  created  with  the 
procedure  described  above. 

There  are  a  few  things  you 
should  note  about  using  the  turbo- 
booter file.  First,  the  screen  will  ap- 
pear to  fill  with  garbage  characters 
for  a  second  or  two  after  you  enter 
the  LOAD  command.  Don't  panic; 
this  is  normal,  and  the  screen  is 
cleared  when  the  turboload  begins. 
Second,  even  though  the  turbo- 
booting  process  usually  is  a  good 
deal  faster  than  a  regular  LOAD,  it 
isn't  quite  as  fast  as  turboloading 
directly  with  TurboDisk  already  in 
memory.  This  is  because  the  turbo- 
booter must  load  the  TurboDisk 
machine  language  before  it  can 
turboload  the  program.  However, 
you'll  probably  find  that  the 
convenience  of  having  your  pro- 
grams start  automatically  out- 
weighs the  slight  speed  decrease. 
Finally,  when  turbobooting  ma- 
chine language  programs  like  "Me- 
taBASIC"  that  are  designed  to  be 
used  in  conjunction  with  BASIC, 
you  must  remember  to  type  NEW 
and  press  RETURN  after  the  turbo- 
boot is  finished  so  that  important 
memory  pointers  will  be  reset.    © 


1 32     Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette 


TurboDisk 
Relocator 


"TurboDisk  64"  becomes  a  more  ver- 
satile and  powerful  utility  when  used 
with  this  short  program.  Now  you  can 
use  TurboDisk  64  with  most  any  ma- 
chine language  program.  For  the 
Commodore  64. 


"TurboDisk  64"  is  an  excellent  util- 
ity program  that  radically  speeds  up 
the  1541  for  load  operations.  Since 
TurboDisk  may  be  activated  in  pro- 
gram mode,  it  can  be  incorporated 
quite  easily  with  other  programs. 
The  only  drawback  is  its  location  in 
memory— $C000  or  49152,  quite  a 
popular  spot  for  other  machine  lan- 
guage programs.  You  may  often 
find  yourself  forced  to  use  a  normal 
load  because  the  program  you  want 
to  turboload  is  at  that  same  address. 
Because  of  the  numerous 
memory  configurations  available 
on  the  64,  many  programs  are  writ- 
ten as  modules.  When  the  main  pro- 
gram is  executed,  it  in  turn  loads  in 
other  modules  such  as  machine  lan- 
guage routines,  hi-res  screens,  and 
so  on.  All  the  modules  required  are 
loaded  in  only  once  when  the  pro- 
gram is  first  run.  TurboDisk  (in  pro- 
gram mode)  is  also  needed  only 
once  at  the  beginning  of  the  module 
loading.  By  being  able  to  relocate 
TurboDisk,  we  could  put  it  in 
BASIC  RAM  (or  wherever  we  want) 


Dino  Bavaro 


and  not  worry  about  it  being  over- 
written, because  once  the  modules 
are  loaded,  we  can  deactivate  it 
since  it's  no  longer  needed.  Care, 
however,  must  be  taken  to  relocate 
TurboDisk  to  an  area  of  memory 
which  does  not  conflict  with  the 
modules  being  loaded. 

User's  Choice 

The  program  accompanying  this  ar- 
ticle, "Turbo  Relocator,"  allows  you 
to  select  the  area  of  memory  for 
TurboDisk.  The  DATA  statements 
in  this  program  reflect  the  key  mem- 
ory locations  that  have  to  be  altered 
whenever  TurboDisk  is  relocated  to 
a  different  area  of  memory. 

When  you  run  it,  the  program 
prompts  you  for  a  new  program 
name  to  be  assigned  to  the  new 
version.  I  find  it  helpful  to  append 
the  program's  starting  address  to 
the  end  of  the  program  name.  If  you 
were  creating  a  TurboDisk  version 
to  be  executable  at  location  4096, 
you  could  name  it  "TBDISK.4096". 
This  makes  things  easier,  especially 
if  you  have  other  versions  of  Turbo- 
Disk that  execute  at  different 
locations. 

The  program  prompts  you  to 
enter  the  memory  address  of  where 
to  assemble  the  new  version  of 
TurboDisk.  You  should  respond 
with  a  decimal  address  on  a  full- 
page  boundary  (that  is,  an  even 
multiple  of  256).  It's  advisable  not 


to  select  memory  areas  under  ROM 
or  other  key  memory  pages  such  as 
addresses  below  2048. 

Once  the  program  knows  the 
address  of  where  to  locate  the  new 
TurboDisk  version  and  the  new 
name,  it  proceeds  to  read  the  origi- 
nal version  from  disk  and  write  a 
new  version  modified  for  the  speci- 
fied starting  address  back  to  the 
same  disk.  (Be  sure  the  name  you 
use  for  the  new  version  is  not  already 
used  by  another  file  on  the  disk.) 

To  activate  the  new  version, 
use  a  SYS  statement  to  the  new 
starting  address  you  selected.  For 
example,  if  you  created  a  version  of 
TurboDisk  relocatable  to  address 
32768,  then  you  would  start  it  with 
SYS  32768  (in  either  program  or 
direct  mode).  To  deactivate  the  new 
version,  SYS  to  the  address  three 
bytes  beyond  the  new  starting  ad- 
dress. For  the  example  of  starting  at 
32768,  you  could  use  SYS  32768  + 
3  (or  just  SYS  32771).  To  incorpo- 
rate TurboDisk  into  one  of  your  pro- 
grams which  loads  modules,  you 
can  use  the  following  technique. 

1  ON  A  GOTO  3,5,6 

2  A  =  l:LOAD  'TBDISK.32768",8,1:  REM 
LOAD  TBDISK  VERSION  32768 

3  SYS  32768:  REM  ACTIVATE 
TURBODISK 

4  A-2:LOAD  "HI-RES  SCREEN",8,1 

5  A  =  3:LOAD  "ML-SORT",8,l 

6  SYS  32768  +  3:  REM  DEACTIVATE 
TURBODISK 

7  REM  REST  OF  PROGRAM  <9 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     1 33 


TurboDisk  128 


Art  you  using  a  1542  disk  drive  with 
your  Commodore  128?  Here's  a  power- 
ful utility  that  can  reduce  the  time 
you  spend  waiting  for  programs  to 
load  by  300  percent  or  more. 


If  you've  upgraded  to  a  Commo- 
dore 128  from  a  VIC-20  or  64  and 
are  still  using  a  1541  disk  drive, 
you're  probably  envious  of  those 
fellow  128  owners  whose  1571 
drives  can  load  programs  in  the 
blink  of  an  eye.  Perhaps  you've 
used  "TurboDisk  64"  in  64  mode 
and  wished  for  an  equivalent 
speedup  for  128  mode.  Here's  the 
answer:  "TurboDisk  128,"  a  new 
and  improved  version  specifically 
for  the  128/1541  combination. 

TurboDisk  128  works  only  in 
128  mode;  you'll  still  need  to  use 
TurboDisk  64  in  64  mode.  And  the 
program  works  only  with  a  1541;  it 
isn't  useful  in  conjunction  with  a 
1571.  If  you  own  a  1571  disk  drive, 
you  don't  need  a  Turbo  program 
while  you're  in  128  mode:  The  128 
and  1571  can  use  the  fast  serial 
transfer  hardware  built  into  both 
disk  drive  and  computer,  which  is 
as  much  as  eight  times  faster  than  a 
standard  1541 — about  twice  as  fast 
as  TurboDisk. 

But  even  if  TurboDisk  128 
doesn't  permanently  cure  your  de- 
sire for  a  1571,  it  will  make  your  life 
with  the  1541  more  bearable.  In 


Don  Lewis 


fact,  once  you  start  using  Turbo- 
Disk, you'll  wonder  how  you  got 
along  without  it.  TurboDisk  turbo- 
charges  the  loading  process  by  a 
factor  of  three  times  or  more.  In 
fact,  the  longer  the  program,  the 
more  improvement  you'll  see.  Like 
TurboDisk  64,  the  128  version  re- 
quires no  modifications  to  your  disk 
drive  or  computer.  It  loads  pro- 
grams saved  in  the  usual  manner; 
no  special  Turbosave  is  required.  It 
works  with  most  BASIC  and  ma- 
chine language  programs.  It  does 
not  compromise  reliability.  And 
you  can  switch  it  on  or  off  at  any 
time  by  typing  a  single  command. 
To  load  TurboDisk,  use  a  com- 
mand of  the  form  BLOAD  "TURBO- 
DISK 128":SYS  DEC("1300").  The 
message  C128  TURBODISK  EN- 
ABLED signals  that  you're  ready 
for  high-speed  loading. 

Turbo  LOADS 

Once  TurboDisk  is  activated,  no 
special  commands  are  necessary. 
Just  type  LOAD  "filename",^  or 
DLOAD  "filename"  or  BLOAD"/i/e- 
name"  as  usual.  You'll  be  amazed  at 
the  difference. 

One  thing  you'll  notice  imme- 
diately is  that  the  red  light  on  the 
disk  drive  doesn't  come  on  at  all 
during  a  turboload.  Don't  panic;  this 
is  normal.  It's  also  normal  for  the 
40-column  screen  to  blank  while 
TurboDisk  works.  When  the  pro- 
gram is  loaded,  the  screen  reappears 
unaltered. 


You  may  occasionally  find  it 
necessary  to  deactivate  TurboDisk 
and  use  a  normal  LOAD  instead.  For 
example,  1541  disk  drives  are  prone 
to  head  alignment  problems,  so  if 
you  have  a  disk  formatted  on  a  drive 
other  than  your  own,  you  may  find 
that  your  drive  has  difficulty  loading 
programs  from  it.  You  can  switch  off 
TurboDisk  at  any  time  without  eras- 
ing it  from  memory  by  entering  SYS 
DEC("1303"),  or  the  equivalent  SYS 
4867.  You  should  see  the  message 
C128  TURBODISK  DISABLED.  To 
be  safe,  it  would  be  wise  to  include 
a  BANK  15  before  the  SYS  to  en- 
sure that  the  system  is  in  its  normal 
BASIC  configuration.  To  reactivate 
TurboDisk,  enter  SYS  DEC 
("1300"),  or  the  equivalent  SYS 
4864  (again,  it  would  be  wise  to 
precede  this  with  a  BANK  15).  You 
should  see  the  message  C128 
TURBODISK  ENABLED  to  indicate 
that  turboloading  is  now  available. 

You'll  also  find  it  necessary  to 
use  the  SYS  to  reactivate  TurboDisk 
after  pressing  RUN/STOP-RE- 
STORE, which  effectively  discon- 
nects TurboDisk. 

TurboDisk  resides  in  the  cur- 
rently unused  area  of  free  memory 
starting  at  address  4864-5839  (hex 
$1300-$16CF),  so  it's  completely 
safe  from  BASIC.  However,  this 
memory  area  is  rapidly  becoming 
popular  with  128  machine  lan- 
guage programmers  and  you  may 
find  other  programs  that  use  these 
locations.  Such  programs  cannot  be 


1 34    8est  of  COMPUTEi  and  Gazette 


used  with  TurboDisk  because  load- 
ing them  will  overwrite  the  Turbo- 
Disk  program.  Turbodisk  also  uses 
the  block  of  memory  at  3072-3327 
($OCOO-$OCFF)  as  a  buffer  for  the 
data  read  from  disk.  This  area  is  the 
RS-232  input  buffer,  but  since  the 
128  can't  turboload  and  receive  RS- 
232  input  simultaneously,  this  dual 
usage  should  cause  no  conflict. 
However,  you  should  be  aware  that 
some  programmers  use  the  RS-232 
buffers  for  machine  language  rou- 
tines. Such  rouHnes  cannot  be  used 
with  TurboDisk. 

TurboDisk  speeds  up  LOAD, 
DLOAD,  BLOAD,  and  the  moni- 
tor's L  command,  but  it  can't  speed 
up  SAVE  or  VERIFY.  It  also  doesn't 
affect  the  speed  of  disk  file  han- 
dling with  PRINT#,  GET#,  and  so 
forth.  It's  not  compatible  with  cer- 
tain features  of  some  programs  and 
may  not  work  with  some  commer- 
cial software. 

How  It  Works 

The  machine  language  for  Turbo- 
Disk is  unusual  in  that  only  half  of 
it  works  within  your  computer — 
the  rest  is  actually  executed  within 
the  1541  drive  itself.  Commodore 
disk  drives  are  intelligent  units, 
containing  their  own  microproces- 
sors, RAM,  and  ROM.  This  means 
that  they  can  be  programmed  for 
special  effects,  like  turboloading. 

During  the  brief  delay  you  no- 
tice between  the  time  you  enter  the 
load  command  and  the  time  the 
drive  starts  spinning,  464  bytes  of 
machine  language  are  transferred 
from  the  computer  to  the  drive's 
RAM.  In  the  128,  this  data  is  stored 
in  locations  5376-5839  ($1500- 
$16CF).  This  required  transfer 
before  each  turboload  adds  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  overhead  time, 
which  explains  why  TurboDisk 
gives  less  speed  improvement  for 
short  programs. 

The  128-resident  portion  of 
TurboDisk  operates  by  changing  the 
ILOAD  vector  at  locations  816-817 
($330-$331)  to  point  to  itself,  by- 
passing the  normal  LOAD  routines 
in  ROM.  TurboDisk  first  checks  to 
see  whether  a  disk  directory  or  a 
verify  operation  was  requested.  In 
either  of  these  cases,  control  is  re- 
turned to  the  ROM  routines  for  nor- 
mal processing.  If  a  program  load 
was  requested,  the  routine  adds  the 


filename  to  the  code  for  the  disk 
drive  portion,  then  transfers  that 
data  to  the  drive's  memory. 

The  portion  of  TurboDisk  in 
the  disk  drive  uses  routines  in  the 
drive's  ROM  to  locate  the  desired 
program  and  read  it  from  the  disk 
sector  by  sector.  To  improve  speed, 
routines  like  the  one  that  turns  on 
the  red  light  are  omitted,  and  only 
the  essential  ones  are  used.  The  256 
bytes  of  data  from  each  disk  sector 
are  sent  to  a  256-byte  buffer  within 
the  computer.  As  mentioned  above, 
this  buffer  is  at  locations  3072-3327 
($0COO-$0CFF).  TurboDisk  sends 
data  over  both  the  DATA  and  CLK 
lines  on  the  serial  port,  instead  of 
just  the  DATA  line  as  in  normal 
serial  data  transfers.  Thus,  Turbo- 
Disk temporarily  converts  your  se- 
rial bus  into  a  two-bit  parallel  bus. 
When  the  entire  256  bytes  from  a 
disk  sector  have  been  transferred 
into  the  computer's  buffer,  data 
from  the  buffer  is  added  to  the  pro- 
gram in  memory  while  the  drive  is 
reading  the  next  sector  from  the 
disk. 


The  Longer,  The  Faster 

Despite  a  few  limitations,  Turbo- 
Disk is  one  of  the  most  valuable 
general-purpose  utilities  a  disk  user 
can  own.  To  discover  exactly  how 
fast  it  is,  we  ran  some  tests.  The 
results,  below,  demonstrate  how 
TurboDisk  yields  the  most  im- 
provement with  medium  to  long 
programs.  (Results  with  different 
disk  drives  may  vary.) 

Pro-am      Blocks    Normal  Turboload  Factor 

LOAD  (seconds) 
(seconds) 

Program  17                7  3  2.33 

Program  2       16              13  4  3.25 

Program  3       28              20  6  3.33 

Program  4       55              40  10  4.00 

Program  5      138             94  25  3.76 


Note  to  readers  outside  North  America: 
High-speed  TurboDisk  data  transfers 
rely  on  precise  timing,  so  the  program 
may  fail  to  operate  on  systems  that  use 
the  European  PAL  video  system  instead 
of  the  North  American  NTSC  system. 
The  reason  is  rather  technical — 128s 
with  PAL  video  use  a  slightly  different 
microprocessor  clock  frequency.  0 


A  Powerful  Wordprocessor 


for  the  Commodore  128 


® 


^^      Selected 

^-:  for  the  1987 

CES  Software 

i-  -Showcase 

Award. 


From  the  author  of  Fontmaster  II  comes  Fontmaster  128, 

an  enhanced  version  for  the  Commodore  128.  This 
powerful  word  processor  with  its  many  different  print 
styles  (fonts),  turns  your  dot  matrix  printer  into  a  more 
effectual  tool.  Term  papers,  newsletters,  and  foreign 
languages  are  just  a  few  of  its  many  applications. 

*  Program  disk  with  no  protection  -  uses  hardware  key 

*  Supplement  disk  includes  foreign  language  fonts 

*  56  Fonts  ready  to  use 

*  Font  editor/creator  included 

*  On  screen  Font  preview 

*  80  column  only 

*  Supports  more  than  110  printers 

This  pakige  will  suun  be  avalibul  with  a  spel  czechr 

Commodore  128  is  a  registeied  iiademartc  of  Commodore  Business  Machines.  Inc. 


Inc.  2804  Arnold  Rd.  Salina.  Ks,  67401  (913)  827-0685 


Best  of  COMPUTEI  and  Gazette     135 


TurboSave  128 


This  easy-to-use  utility  makes  all 
your  saves  at  turbo  speed — up  to  six 
times  faster  than  normal — on  the 
Commodore  128  with  a  1571  disk 
drive.  Other  useful  features  are  also 
included. 

If  you  own  a  128  and  a  1571  disk 
drive,  you're  probably  still  amazed 
at  the  speed  with  which  your  pro- 
grams load.  Unfortunately,  the 
1571  is  as  slow  as  the  1541  when  it 
comes  to  saving  programs.  "Turbo- 
Save  128"  offers  a  solution.  It  al- 
lows you  to  save  64K  of  memory  to 
a  blank,  formatted  disk  in  23  sec- 
onds— six  times  the  speed  of  a  nor- 
mal save.  Here's  a  chart  showing 
the  difference  between  TurboSave 
and  the  standard  SAVE  routine: 

TurboSave    Commodore 
SAVE 

10  blocks       3'/i  sec  9V2  sec 

100  blocks      12     sec         60     sec 

TurboSave  is  invisible  to  the 
operating  system  and  the  user,  so  it 
works  equally  well  with  all  save 
commands  — BASIC'S  SAVE, 
DSAVE,  and  BSAVE,  and  the  moni- 
tor's 5  command.  Except  for  its  lack 
of  support  for  the  bug-ridden  Save- 
with-Replace,  TurboSave  is  com- 
pletely compatible  with 
Commodore's  standard  SAVE.  And 
it  will  never  create  an  unclosed 
splat  file,  either. 

TurboSave  is  simple  to  use. 
Just  load  it  with  a  statement  like 
this: 

BOOT  "TURBOS  AVE",B1 

Don't  forget  to  add  the  extra  ,81  at 
the  end  of  the  command.  This 
causes  the  data  to  be  loaded  into 
bank  1  of  the  128's  RAM.  If  you 
omit  the  bank  specification,  the 
program  will  load  into  bank  0  by 


Michael  Henry 


default,  where  it  will  overwrite  im- 
portant system  information  such  as 
function-key  definitions.  As  an  al- 
ternative, you  can  type  in  and  save 
this  short  program  to  act  as  a  boot 
program: 

10  SCNCLR:PRINT"i  DOWN  I  BOOTING 

TURBOSAVE" 
20  BOOT 'TURBOSAVE",Bl 

Pressing  RUN/STOP-RE- 
STORE disables  TurboSave.  You 
can  also  disable  TurboSave  with 
the  following  command: 

BANK  1:SYS  DEC("FFA8") 

To  reactivate  it,  enter: 

BANK  1:SYS  12*256 

TurboSave  assigns  this  command 
to  the  SHIFT-RUN/STOP  key 
combination,  so  you  can  also  reacti- 
vate TurboSave  simply  by  pressing 
SHIFT-RUN/STOP. 

TurboSave  causes  no  conflicts 
with  BASIC,  but  machine  language 
programmers  should  be  aware  of 
the  memory  locations  used  by  the 
program.  It  occupies  locations 
3072-5563  ($0C00-$15BB)  in  block 
1  RAM  (bank  1),  and  uses  locations 
1024-1791  ($0400-$06FF)  in  that 
block  for  buffer  storage.  In  block  0 
RAM  (bank  0),  the  program  uses 
locations  3072-3327  ($0C00- 
$OCFF).  This  block  is  normally  used 
as  the  RS-232  input  buffer;  any  pro- 
grams that  use  this  area  won't  work 
with  TurboSave.  The  following  zero- 
page  locations  are  used  temporarily 
during  a  save  operation: 

6-8  ($06-$08) 

100-101  ($64-$65) 

106-110  ($6A-$6E) 

174-175  ($AE-$AF) 

193-194  ($C1-$C2) 

TurboSave  eliminates  auto- 
matic verifying  to  achieve  its  speed. 
If  you  wish  to  verify  that  your  pro- 


gram was  saved  correctly,  use  the 
VERIFY  statement  following  the 
SAVE.  The  VERIFY  will  occur  as 
quickly  as  the  SAVE  did,  so  you'll 
still  be  way  ahead  of  the  normal 
save  routine. 

Altering  TurboSave 

TurboSave  is  designed  to  be  flexi- 
ble. Although  it  normally  saves 
data  in  PRG  files,  you  can  change 
this  with  the  following: 

BANK  l:POKE  DEC("D29"U 


where  x 
values: 

is  one  of  the  following  the 

Value 

File  type 

129 
130 
131 
132 

sequential  (SEQ) 
program  (PRG) 
user  (USR) 
relative  (REL) 

Add  64  to  these  values  if  you  wish 
the  file  to  be  automatically  locked 
after  it  is  saved.  For  example,  a 
value  of  194  (130  +  64)  would 
cause  TurboSave  to  create  locked 
program  files.  TurboSave  normally 
writes  the  starting  address  of  the 
data  being  saved  as  the  first  two 
bytes  of  the  file.  This  is  standard 
practice  for  Commodore  program 
files,  but  you  may  want  to  disable 
this  feature  if  you  are  creating  an- 
other file  type.  To  prevent  the  load 
address  from  being  saved,  use  this 
statement: 

BANK  l:POKE  DEC("D47"),0 

This  is  especially  useful  when  cre- 
ating text  files,  which  need  no  load 
address.  However,  remember  that 
program  files  can't  be  loaded  nor- 
mally unless  they  contain  a  starting 
address.  You  can  reenable  the  start- 
ing address  feature  with 

BANK  IrPOKE  DEC("D47"),1 


136     Best  ot  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


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COMPUTEI's  Commodora  64/1 2S 
Power  BASIC 

Edited 

Collected  in  this  one  volume  are  more 
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COMPUTE!  Publications,  the  leading  pub- 
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^^ 


TurboSave  64 


William  Voosen 


Now  you  can  save  files  three-to-five 
times  faster  on  the  1541  disk  drive. 
(Commodore  128  users  see  the  follow- 
ing article,  "TurboSave  128,"  a  ver- 
sion that  works  with  the  1571  disk 
drive.) 


"TurboSave  64/'  is  a  machine  lan- 
guage program  that  makes  saves 
three  to  five  times  as  fast  by  repro- 
gramming  the  1541  disk  drive. 
Here's  a  chart  showing  the  speed 
difference  betu'een  "TurboSave  64" 
and  the  standard  SAVE  routine: 


TurboSave 

Standard 
SAVE 

8  blocks 

3  sec 

9  sec 

128  blocks 

17  sec 

87  sec 

Once  TurboSave  is  activated, 
all  saves  take  place  at  high  speed. 
To  load  the  utility,  type  LOAD- 
"TURBOSAVE  64",8.  To  activate 
TurboSave,  just  type  RUN  as  you 
would  for  a  BASIC  program.  Press- 
ing RUN/STOP-RESTORE  dis- 
ables TurboSave.  Enter  SYS  710  to 
reenable  it. 

This  utility  maintains  all  the 
error  checking  of  the  standard 
SAVE  routine  except  automatic  ver- 
ification, if  you  wish  to  verify  the 
save,  use  the  VERIFY  command.  To 
increase  the  speed  of  the  save,  the 
screen  is  turned  off  briefly  during 
the  high-speed  save. 

Compatibility 

Some  printer  interfaces  interfere 
with  TurboSave  64.  If  your  printer 
interface  causes  problems  with  Tur- 


boSave, you  may  have  to  disconnect 
it  while  using  the  program.  Be  sure 
to  test  the  program  carefully  before 
using  it  with  an  important  disk. 

TurboSave  64  is  compatible 
with  the  DOS  5.1  wedge.  The  pro- 
gram uses  27  bytes  at  locations 
710-736  ($02C6-$02E0),  but  the 
bulk  of  the  program  is  stored  in  the 
RAM  under  the  BASIC  ROM.  Be- 


cause TurboSave  reprograms  the 
disk  drive,  a  portion  of  the  program 
is  also  transferred  into  the  disk 
drive's  internal  memory.  The  trans- 
fer of  data  to  the  drive  RAM  re- 
quires about  1.5  seconds.  That 
overhead  is  the  same  for  all  saves, 
so  there  is  less  speed  improvement 
for  saving  small  programs  than  for 
saving  large  ones.  © 


BACKUP  PROTECTED 
SOFTWARE  FAST. 

From  the  team  who  brought  you 
Copy  II  for  the  Apple,  the  Macintosh 
and  the  IBM  comes  a  revolutionary 
new  copy  program  for  the  Commodore 
64/128  computers. 

•  Copies  many  protected  programs  — 
automatically  (We  update  Copy  tl 
64/128  regularly  to  handle  new 
protections;  you  as  a  registered 
owner  may  update  at  any  time  for 
$15  plus  $3  sib.) 

•  Copies  even  protected  disks  in 
under  2  minutes  (single  drive). 

•  Copies  even  protected  disks  in 
under  1  minute  (dual  drive). 

•  Maximum  of  four  disk  swaps  on  a 
single  drive. 


•  Includes  fast  loader,  12-second 
format. 

Requires  a  Commodore  64  or  128 
computer  with  one  or  two  1541  or 
1571  drives. 

Call  503/244-5782,  M  -  F,  8  -  5, 
(West  Coast  time)  with  your  ^  ^ 
in  hand.  Or  send  a  check 
for  $39.95  U.S.  plus  $3  s/h,  $8 
overseas. 

$39.95 

Central  Poini  Software,  Inc. 
9700  S,W.  Capitol  Hwy,  #100 
Portland.  OR  97219 

CeritralRmU 


Sofhvcm 


Call  tor  a  catalog  of  our  full  product  line. 

This  product  is  pm/icSed  lor  the  purpose  ot  enabling  you  to  mate  archival  copies  only. 


Turbo  Format 


//  you're  interested  in  saving  time, 
and  wear  and  tear,  on  your  1542  disk 
drive,  you'll  put  this  program  high  on 
your  list  of  utilities.  It  formats  a  disk 
in  only  9-1/2  seconds — a  super 
speed-up  from  the  usual  minute  and 
20  seconds — and  it  eliminates  head 
knocking.  Also,  it's  easy  to  use — just 
answer  a  few  prompts,  and  you're 
seconds  away  from  a  formatted  disk. 


"Turbo  Format"  is  a  fast,  easy-to- 
use  disk  formatting  program.  It  for- 
mats a  disk  in  only  9-1/2 
seconds — the  standard  1541  format 
program  requires  one  minute  and 
20  seconds.  That's  a  speed  increase 
of  over  eight  times.  It's  easy  to  use 
because  you  don't  have  to  remem- 
ber the  cryptic  command  line  re- 
quired by  the  1541  to  format  a  disk. 
And  you're  prompted  through  each 
step  of  the  procedure  so  there's  no 
need  to  memorize  anything. 

To  use  Turbo  Format,  type 
LOAD  "Turbo  Format", 8  and 
RUN.  There  will  be  a  short  delay 
(while  most  of  the  program  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  memory  in  the  disk 
drive),  and  a  title  screen  with  the 
first  prompt  will  be  displayed. 

Three  Easy  Steps 

You're  first  prompted  to  enter  the 
disk  name  (up  to  16  characters). 
Virtually  any  character  may  be  used 
in  the  name,  but  some  may  cause 
undesirable  side  effects,  so  caution 
is  recommended  whenever  charac- 
ters other  than  letters  or  numbers 
are  used. 

The  second  prompt  is  for  the 
disk  ID.  This  is  the  number  used  by 
the  disk  drive  primarily  to  deter- 
mine when  a  disk  has  been 
changed.  Normally  this  number  is 
two  characters  long,  but  Turbo  For- 


Ross  Ouwinga 

mat  will  allow  up  to  five  characters. 
More  than  five  characters  may  be 
typed  in,  but  only  the  first  five  will 
be  used.  Only  the  first  two  charac- 
ters will  actually  be  used  by  the 
disk  drive  to  identify  the  disk  after 
it  has  been  formatted,  but  all  five 
will  appear  in  the  BAM  (Block  Allo- 
cation Map). 

Next,  you'll  be  instructed  to 
insert  the  disk  to  be  formatted.  Be 
sure  that  you  do  not  leave  your  disk 
with  Turbo  Formal  in  the  disk  drive. 
Formatting  the  disk  will  erase  ev- 
erything. A  recommended  safe- 
guard is  to  put  a  write-protect  tab 
on  your  disk  immediately  after  you 
have  a  working  copy.  Turbo  Format 
does  check  the  write-protect  tab, 
and  if  one  is  present,  the  disk  will 
not  be  formatted.  Also,  an  error 
message  will  appear  to  notify  you 
that  the  disk  is  write  protected. 

Along  with  the  prompt  to  in- 
sert a  disk  is  an  abort  option.  Press 
the  fl  key  to  abort.  This  causes  the 
program  to  start  again  at  the  begin- 
ning, prompting  you  to  re-enter  the 
disk  name.  This  option  allows  you 
to  change  your  mind  and  enter  a 
new  disk  name  or  ID  or  correct  any 
spelling  errors  before  formatting 
the  disk. 

Two  Kinds  Of  Formatting 

The  formatting  process  does  not  ac- 
tually begin  until  you  press  the 
space  bar  or  RETURN.  Note,  how- 
ever, that  the  space  bar  and  RE- 
TURN do  not  perform  the  same 
function.  If  you  press  the  space  bar, 
the  disk  will  be  formatted  and  all 
data  written  to  the  disk  will  be 
checked  for  errors.  If  an  error  oc- 
curs, the  formatting  will  stop  and 
the  type  of  error  will  be  displayed 
on  the  screen.  If  you  press  RE- 
TURN, the  disk  will  be  formatted  as 


quickly  as  possible  without  check- 
ing for  errors. 

The  reason  for  offering  the  two 
options  is  to  allow  you  to  use  the 
program  in  a  manner  which  most 
closely  suits  your  needs.  If  the  disks 
are  verified,  the  procedure  takes  1 7 
seconds  rather  than  9-1/2  seconds. 
Verifying  provides  more  assurance 
that  the  disk  is  formatted  correctly. 
The  additional  7  or  8  seconds  may 
not  make  much  difference  to  you. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  speed  is  im- 
portant, you  may  choose  not  to  veri- 
fy your  disks.  Errors  occur  very 
rarely  and  most  are  self-correcting, 
provided  the  disk  itself  is  not  dam- 
aged. Also,  if  you  have  a  disk  which 
you  know  is  faulty,  but  wish  to  for- 
mat anyway,  you  must  use  the  no- 
verify  option.  I  strongly  recommend 
using  the  verify  feature  if  you're  for- 
matting the  back  side  of  a  disk  cerh- 
fied  only  for  single-side  use,  or  If  the 
disk  is  well  used,  or  if  you  use  an 
inexpensive,  off-brand  disk. 

No  Knock 

After  pressing  the  space  bar  or  RE- 
TURN to  format,  the  process  be- 
gins. A  feature  that  will  be  noticed 
immediately  is  that  there  is  no  loud 
knocking  noise  at  the  beginning  of 
the  format  routine.  A  single  short 
click  is  heard  instead  to  indicate 
that  the  routine  is  working  correct- 
ly. This  feature  is  possible  since 
Turbo  Format  is  loaded  from  a  disk 
at  the  start  and  the  exact  location  of 
the  read/write  head  is  saved  in 
memory  in  the  disk  drive.  The  pro- 
gram is  then  able  to  calculate  the 
exact  position  of  the  first  track  with- 
out the  excessive  knock.  The  stand- 
ard format  routine  does  not 
necessarily  know  the  position  of 
the  read/write  head;  it  therefore 
assumes  the  worst-case  condition 


MO     Best  of  COMPUTEi  and  Gazette 


and  tries  to  step  the  head  down  45  tracks.  If  the  head 
reaches  track  one  before  it  has  stepped  45  times  (which 
is  usually  the  case),  it  bangs  the  head  against  the  stop 
until  the  count  of  45  is  complete.  It  works,  but  it  makes 
an  awful  racket  and,  in  some  cases,  eventually  works 
the  disk  drive  out  of  alignment. 

When  the  format  process  is  complete,  a  message  is 
displayed  and  will  indicate  OK  if  there  were  no  errors. 
At  this  point  you  have  the  option  of  formatting  another 
disk  or  quitting.  It's  important  that  you  press  fl  to  quit. 
Do  not  reset  the  computer  by  turning  it  off  and  back  on. 
The  reason  for  this  is  that  the  format  routine  leaves  the 
read/write  head  on  track  35  when  it  finishes.  By  using 
fl  to  quit,  the  disk  drive  is  sent  an  initialize  command 
and  also  a  reset  command  to  set  everything  back  in 
order.  If  you  accidentally  turn  the  computer  off,  you 
should  initialize  the  disk  drive  using  the  lO:  command. 
Failure  to  do  so  could  cause  erratic  operation.  If  you 
accidentally  restarted  when  you  intended  to  quit,  it  will 
be  necessary  to  press  RETURN  for  the  enter  name  and 
ID  prompts  and  press  the  space  bar  with  no  disk  in  the 
disk  drive.  An  error  will  be  detected  immediately  and 
you  will  again  be  given  the  prompt  to  quit  by  pressing  fl. 

Using  Turbo  Format  does  not  mean  your  disks  will 
become  less  reliable.  It's  much  faster  because  it  elimi- 
nates several  very  unnecessary  and  time-consuming 
routines.  Most  of  the  time  used  to  format  a  disk  is  spent 
by  a  routine  whose  only  function  is  to  space  the  sectors 
evenly  around  the  disk.  Turbo  Format  sets  this  space 
the  same  for  every  sector  on  every  track,  but  skips  a 
time-consuming  calculation  process  used  in  the  stand- 
ard formatting  process.  It's  amazing  how  much  time  is 
saved  by  this  one  modification.  To  a  lesser  extent,  time 
is  saved  by  reducing  delays  when  stepping  between 
tracks  and  by  eliminating  unnecessary  data-conversion 
routines.  A  technical  discussion  of  this  is  beyond  the 
scope  of  this  article,  but  it  should  be  noted  that  only 
those  procedures  that  do  not  affect  reliability  were 
changed.  Disks  formatted  with  Turbo  Format  work  just 
as  well  as  those  formatted  the  standard  way. 

Intermediate  or  advanced  machine  language  pro- 
grammers might  be  interested  to  know  that  the  data 
recorded  to  the  BAM  of  the  disk  is  at  locations  $0B00 
(2816)  through  $OBFF  (3071).  If  you  have  a  thorough 
understanding  of  the  BAM  and  its  contents,  you  can 
modify  this  area  of  the  program  to  customize  or  per- 
sonalize the  BAM  on  your  disks.  Be  aware,  however, 
that  modifying  the  BAM  may  have  undesirable  side 
effects  and  is  not  recommended  for  the  beginner  or 
someone  who  knows  no  more  than  the  basics  of  disk 
drive  operation. 

For  those  of  you  with  disk  drives  other  than  the 
1541,  Turbo  Format  will  likely  work  if  the  drive  claims 
to  be  100-percent  compatible.  Most  of  the  program  is 
transferred  to  and  operates  in  the  disk  drive  and  calls 
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program  in  the  drive.  If  these  routines  are  not  at  the 
same  addresses  as  in  the  1541,  the  program  will  not 
operate  correctly.  No  damage  will  occur  to  your  disk 
drive  if  this  should  happen,  but  it  may  be  necessary  to 
turn  it  off  and  on  again  to  regain  control.  ® 


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Unicopy 

Single  Disk  Copying 
For  Tiie  Commodore  64 


Copying  programs  and  sequential 
files  can  sometimes  be  difficult. 
There  are  backup  programs,  of 
course;  but  they  require  that  you 
copy  the  whole  disk,  and  some- 
times you  just  want  to  copy  one  or 
two  programs.  LOAD  and  SAVE 
work  for  simple  BASIC  programs, 
but  not  for  anything  complex.  Well- 
equipped  users  have  two  disk 
drives  and  can  use  utilities  that  will 
transfer  from  one  to  the  other. 

Dual  disk  units  (notably  the 
Commodore  4040)  don't  quite  do 
the  job  for  Commodore  64  owners. 
There's  a  slight  format  difference 
between  4040  and  1541  that  makes 
it  undesirable  to  write  on  a  disk 
formatted  on  the  other  unit.  Thus,  a 
4040-copied  disk  is  not  well-suited 
for  the  1541  if  you  wish  to  write 
further  material  to  the  disk. 

"Unicopy"  will  help  to  solve 
these  problems.  It  will  take  your 
choice  of  programs  or  sequential 
files  from  the  disk  and  hold  them  in 
memory.  When  you're  finished,  or 
when  memory  is  full,  you  can  then 
write  the  files  to  a  new  disk  or  to 
cassette  tape. 

Buffering  Files 

As  you  scan  the  input  disk,  you'll 
be  offered  programs  and  sequential 
files  for  copying.  You  may  tap  the  Y 
or  N  key  to  signal:  yes,  you  want  to 
copy  this  file;  or  no,  you  don't  want 
this  one.  More  on  this  in  a  moment. 

Before  presenting  you  with  the 
filename,  Unicopy  looks  at  the  size 
of  the  file  and  the  amount  of  memo- 
ry space  that  is  left.  If  the  file  is  too 
big  to  fit,  the  program  won't  offer  it 
to  you;  instead,  it  will  signal  MORE 
and  quit  scanning  the  directory. 
That  way,  you  know  that  there  is 
more  on  the  disk,  but  it  can't  be  fit 


Jim  Butterfieid,  Associote  Editor 

in  this  time.  Unicopy  could  catch 
the  missing  files  on  a  subsequent 
run.  The  program  will  not  skip  by 
the  big  ones  to  look  at  smaller  files 
later  in  the  directory,  since  it  might 
be  important  to  you  to  keep  a  group 
of  files  in  the  same  order  as  they 
were  shown  on  the  previous  disk. 

There's  one  exception  to  the 
big  files  rule.  If  the  file  won't  fit  into 
the  whole  memory  buffer  area, 
there's  no  way  to  copy  it  with  this 
program.  Unicopy  will  skip  such 
jumbo  files. 

How  big  is  the  buffer  area?  It 
depends  on  how  your  Commodore 
64  is  configured.  If  it's  a  "clean" 
system  with  no  other  resident  pro- 
grams, Unicopy  will  throw  out 
BASIC  (temporarily)  and  use  all  the 
memory  it  can  get — about  48K,  or 
the  equivalent  of  192  disk  blocks. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  program  in 
residence — monitor,  DOS  wedge, 
interface  package,  or  whatever — 
must  not  be  disturbed;  in  this  case, 
UNICOPY  will  become  conserva- 
tive and  restrict  itself  to  less  than 
36K  or  144  disk  blocks.  The  exact 
amount  of  space  will  depend  on  the 
other  program's  location  and  size. 

You'll  be  asked  "Any  resident 
programs?"  at  the  start  of  Unicopy; 
buffer  size  will  be  set  accordingly. 

One  more  thing:  If  you  plan  to 
direct  the  output  to  cassette  tape, 
Unicopy  must  insure  that  no  more 
than  28K  or  112  blocks  are  used. 
Tape  routines  forbid  writing  a  pro- 
gram from  above  address  32766;  so 
Unicopy  will  trim  accordingly.  By 
the  way,  this  solves  a  subtle  prob- 
lem with  cassette  tape:  Normally, 
you  can  never  save  memory  above 
hex  $7FFE;  but  Unicopy  will  move 
the  program  down  and  save  it  suc- 
cessfully from  where  it  is  held  in 
lower  memory. 


Initial  Tasks  And 
First  Questions 

If  you're  copying  to  another  disk, 
be  sure  that  the  destination  disk  is 
formatted  before  running  Unicopy. 
The  disk  may  already  be  formatted 
if  you're  just  adding  some  new  files; 
but  if  not,  remember  to  NEW  it, 
since  Unicopy  won't  do  the  job  for 
you.  You  may  copy  files  to  more 
than  one  disk;  format  them  all  as 
necessary. 

We've  already  mentioned  ANY 
RESIDENT  PROGRAMS?;  answer 
Y  or  N. 

OUTPUT  TO  TAPE  OR  DISK? 
calls  for  touching  the  T  or  D  key. 

If  you  select  tape,  you'll  be 
asked  WRITE  END-OF-TAPE 
MARK?  If  you  respond  with  N, 
you'll  copy  the  programs  to  tape 
and  that's  all.  If  you  answer  Y, 
you'll  copy  the  programs  to  tape 
and  then  write  a  special  block 
called  a  "tape  mark."  Here's  what 
the  tape  mark  does:  At  some  later 
time,  if  you're  searching  through 
this  tape  for  a  particular  file,  the 
tape  mark  will  stop  the  search. 

Thus,  if  you  don't  find  the  file 
you  want  on  tape,  you  won't  go 
running  through  the  whole  tape, 
most  of  which  is  blank.  An  unsuc- 
cessful search  will  terminate  early, 
thanks  to  the  tape  mark. 

DISK  INPUT  PATTERN?  al- 
lows you  to  use  pattern  matching. 
You're  prompted  with  the  asterisk; 
if  you  want  to  see  everything,  just 
press  RETURN.  But  there  are  many 
other  combinations.  AR*  will  pre- 
sent only  programs  that  begin  with 
AR,  such  as:  AR,  ARCHER,  ARM, 
or  ARRRRGH.  R?D?  will  present 
you  with  such  names  as  REDS, 
RIDE,  or  R2D2,  but  not  RIDDLE. 
*  =  P  will  offer  programs  only.  And 


142     Best  of  COMPUTE!  and  Gazette 


PLUTO  will  offer  you  only  a  file 
called  PLUTO. 

When  you  are  presented  with 
names  from  the  directory,  you  may 
tap  Y  or  N  to  accept  or  reject  the 
files  for  copying.  If  you  know  that 
you  want  to  take  or  reject  a  se- 
quence of  files,  you  may  hold  down 
the  appropriate  key.  The  RETURN 
key  acts  to  "lock  in"  the  previous 
key,  so  that  pressing  Y,  RETURN 
will  accept  everything  and  N,  RE- 
TURN will  reject  everything. 

The  Output 

Eventually  the  questionnaire  will 
stop,  and  the  computer  will  advise 
READING  FILES.  The  programs  or 
sequential  files  will  be  brought  into 
the  buffer  area.  The  programs 
won't  be  in  their  usual  place  in 
memory,  but  that  doesn't  matter; 
we  just  want  to  copy  them,  not  to 
run  them. 

After  the  files  are  loaded,  the 
computer  will  say  READY  TO 
WRITE  FILES;  PRESS  ANY  KEY. 
Don't  press  a  key — yet. 

If  you're  writing  to  cassette 
tape,  place  the  tape  in  the  drive.  If 
you  have  time  and  think  it's  neces- 
sary, fast  forward  and  rewind  the 
tape  to  even  up  the  tension.  Finally, 
press  PLAY  and  RECORD  and 
touch  any  key  on  the  keyboard.  The 
tape  will  start  to  write:  The  screen 
will  go  blank,  of  course. 

If  you're  writing  to  another 
disk,  take  the  source  disk  out  of  the 
drive  and  insert  the  destination 
disk.  (You  did  make  sure  that  the 
destination  disk  was  preformatted, 
didn't  you?)  Now  touch  any  key  on 
the  keyboard.  As  the  files  write  to 
the  disk,  you'll  see  their  names 
displayed. 

If  any  errors  are  encountered 
during  input  or  output,  you'll  be 
told  about  them. 

When  the  copying  job  is  done, 
you'll  be  asked  ANOTHER  OUT- 
PUT? If  you  want  to  write  to  anoth- 
er tape  or  disk,  put  it  Into  the  drive 
and  press  Y  for  "yes."  Otherwise, 
press  N  and  the  job  is  done. 

Other  Types  Of  Files 

Unicopy  does  not  attempt  to  copy 
USR  or  REL  type  files,  nor  does  it 
try  to  copy  "direct"  data.  This  type 
of  job  should  be  done  by  the  pro- 
grams which  use  these  types  of 
files.  © 


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C.T526  MPS  802 
CMPS  803,  C-1520 
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Okidalo   120/192 
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EptonMX   FX   RX80 
Epion  LXBO/CIOOO 


7,00 
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PIINIERS 

Svikoiha  SP-1000  13.00 

Comrti   220  13.00 

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Juki   5510  13.00 

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Epuin   FX    85185  13.00 

Okidalo   92  13.00 

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C  OPS  1101  16.00 

Gammi  10  &  Slar  lO'i  13.00 

Gemini  IS&Stor  I5'i  16.00 


Alori  1027 


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800 


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Alori  SC   I224RGB        19.00 

C-1703,  BMC  Cok"     16.00 

C-1P02   Amiga  19,00 

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C-19a2A  Magnvic  40  19.00 
NEC  (Slaie  Modal)  19.00 
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Princeion  <Sioie  Modal  1 9  00 
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Toxan  (Slola  Model)  19.00 
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Zenilh  (Slole  Modal]     19.00 
VIDEO  RECORDERS      1 3 ,00 
Slole  Make  &  Model 
DimeniKini   requited 
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Crown  Custom  Covers 143 

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1 1 7  Donovan  Scientific  Software 60 

1 1 S  Dune  Systems   43 

1 19  Emerald  Components  International     IBC 

120  The  Experts   141 

121  Eychaner  Software  Co 102 

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WORK 
WITHUSONA 

PROFESSnNAL 


Some  people  really  like  work- 
ing on  their  machines.  And  then 
there  are  some  who  prefer  to  do 
their  tinkering  under  the  hood.  For 
those  of  you  who  can't  wait  to  get 
your  hands  greasy,  we  proudly 
introduce  geo Programmer.  The 
most  sophisticated  machine 
language  programming  tool  on 
the  market. 

With  geoProgrammer,  you  get 
the  same  kind  of  technology  we  use 
for  developing  our  other  products. 
Which  means  you  can  write  super- 
charged software.  Pump  your  own 
programs.  And  assemble  just  about 
any  kind  of  application  you  can 
imagine. 

It  reads  and  writes  and 
stomps  on  bugs. 

The  first  three  tools  that 
any  serious  programmer  needs 
are  an  assembler,  a  linker  and 
a  debugger.  So  we've  installed  all 
three,  complete  with  sample  GEOS 
applications  that  teach  you  the  latest 
programming  tricks  in  seconds. 

geoAssembler  not  only  reads 
directly  from  geoWrite  files,  but 
contains  enough  Pseudo  Ops  to 


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LoriV  iO,MuiI«u 

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LEVEL 


allow  all  kinds 
of  conditional  assem- 
blies. It  has  all  the  state-of-the-art 
features  you'd  expect,  including 
some  you  probably  never  thought 
possible.  For  example,  integrating 
graphics  is  as  simple  as  cutting  and 
pasting  the  image  from  geoPaint 
directly  into  your  program. 

geoLinker  ties  your  program 
modules  together,  supporting 
GEOS  SEQ  and  VLIR  applications 
and  desk  accessories.  You  can  even 
use  geoAssembler  and  geoLinker  to 
create  non-GEOS  applications. 


geoDebugger  allows  your  pro- 
gram to  be  tested  in  memory  with 
full  symbolic  disassembly,  along 

with  line  assembly  for  patching 
^k  code  in  memory.  It  also  allows 
^  your  code  to  be  single-stepped  or 
top-stepped,  with  sub-routines  fully 
executed.  It  can  stop  a  running  pro- 
gram with  one  key.  or  use  up 
to  eight  conditional  break- 
points. When  your  program 
hits  the  breakpoint,  it  promi- 
nently displays  the  error  in  an 
overlay  window,  leaving  the 
applications  screen  intact. 

Pro  enough  for  you  yet?  Weil, 
that's  only  a  partial  list  of  what 
f    you're  in  for. 

^      If  you  understood  all  that, 
read  on. 

Chances  are  that  we  lost  a  lot 
of  readers  by  now.  But  if  you're  still 
with  us,  hang  in  there.  You  have  the 
makings  of  a  real  GEOS  pro.  All  you 
need  now  are  the  right  tools. 

And  all  of  them  come  in  this 
one  handy  box. 

So  if  you're  serious  about  pro- 
gramming.consider  geoProgrammer. 
After  all,  you've  got  nothing  to  lose 
—except  your  amateur  status. 


To  order  call  l-H00-443-(ni)<}  ext.  234 
geoProgrammer  $69.95 

iCiilifornia  rfsidfiH.-;  iidd  7''  s;ilfs  tiix. ) 
$2. 51)  US/$.S.  f»<)  Koroinn  f<jr  shipping  and 
handling.  -Mlow  six  weeks  for  delivery. 


GEOPROGRAMMER 


n 


Berkeley 
Softworks 


The  brightest  minds  are  wori<ing  at  Beri<eley.